Exclusive: Vandalism at local schools has cost north-east councils £600,000

By Garrett Stell

January 27 2023, 6:00 am

Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire Councils have spent over £600,000 repairing vandalism on school sites in the last five years. Image: Shutterstock

North-east councils have spent more than £600,000 repairing vandalism at local schools since 2018.

In Aberdeen City, vandalism repairs have cost the council £389,827.92 since 2021.

The highest expense was £33,275.78 on 141 repairs at Northfield Academy in 2021.

And in Aberdeenshire, the council has had to pay repair bills to the tune of £274,168.96 since 2018. That number accounts for approximately half of the £446,027.61 repair bill across all council properties.

The number of school vandalism repair jobs per year increased from 79 to 190 during that time period.

The statistics on vandalism across the north-east were published in response to a freedom of information request made by the Scottish Conservative Party.

Aberdeen City’s statistics are based on cost estimates of work hours set at £15 per hour.

City schools rack up a significant repair bill

Four Aberdeen City schools proved especially expensive, with most of the repairs taking place in 2021/2022:

Northfield Academy: £33,275.78 spent on 141 jobs in 2021/2022
Northfield Academy: £25,259.37 spent on 109 jobs in 2022/2023
Hazlehead Academy: £24,199.65 spent on 51 jobs in 2021/2022
Harlaw Academy: £23,825.67 spent on 89 jobs in 2021/2022
St Machar Academy: £19,144.33 spent on 71 jobs in 2021/2022

Hazlehead Academy is one of the Aberdeen schools which racked up a considerable repair bill. Image: Paul Smyth/DC Thomson

North-east sees spike in school vandalism costs

Since 2018, Aberdeenshire Council has been forced to spend £446,027.61 on vandalism repairs across its properties. Over half of that amount – £274,168.96 – was spent at schools, and the need for repairs has more than doubled in the last five years:

2018: £34,526.44 spent on 79 repair jobs
2019: £58,832.76 spent on 179 repair jobs
2020: £48,888.97 spent on 135 repair jobs
2021: £59,018.42 spent on 195 repair jobs
2022: £72,902.37 spent on 190 repair jobs

The Banff and Buchan and Marr areas registered more than 40 repair jobs each last year.

Banff and Buchan had one very expensive repair job for over £5,000 at Lochpots school in September 2022.

The second biggest job in the area cost the council more than £4,000 to repair a wall hit by a vehicle at Fraserburgh academy in August 2022. The third was in June 2022 for over £3,000 to repair vandalised brickwork.

‘Eye-watering’ repair bills could have been school improvements

West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine MP Andrew Bowie said that the steep repair bills come at a time when councils should be finding ways to save money.

“And these eye-watering sums should be spent on enhancing schools, parks and libraries instead of patching them up. Of course, not all of this bill will be down to wanton vandalism, but it all takes its toll on the public purse.

“And I’m disappointed to see so many expensive repairs needed in our schools, when it should be going on pupils.”

In addition to the damage done to schools over the years, there has been a string of vandalism incidents across the north-east in recent months. Near Christmas, vandals defaced a nativity scene at St Nicholas Kirkyard with racist graffiti.

And since the launch of an ebike hire scheme in Aberdeen last year, the bikes have been a constant target for vandals. In November, organisers removed two ebike parking zones, following advice from the police.

An Aberdeenshire spokeswoman said that the communities can help lower the costs of vandalism and other anti-social activities by reporting what they see.

“As well as causing disruption and disappointment, vandalism places additional pressure on budgets and uses funds that could be better spent elsewhere.

“We would encourage anybody who notices suspicious activity or witnesses vandalism in progress to contact the police immediately.”

An Aberdeen City Council spokesman said: “Due to changes to material and labour costs, the cost for any kind of repair, including vandalism, has risen accordingly.

“Where possible, the Corporate Landlord will look at what can be addressed to reduce repair costs and introduce preventative measures to guard against further incidents.

“All reports of vandalism should be reported to Police Scotland and an incident form obtained, and staff in schools are encouraged to make such reports when incidents occur.”