Highland Council will be asked to declare a “school estate emergency” because the north is lagging so far behind the rest of Scotland when it comes to the condition of its education buildings.

The move from Aird and Loch Ness councillor Helen Crawford is due to be discussed at the full council meeting on December 14 – the last of the year – and could rub salt in the wounds of local authority bosses.

The SNP-led political administration has been battered by criticism since it cancelled – or to use its own terminology “deferred” – the building of 10 vital projects in September saying it lacked funding. The last hope of funding was from the Scottish Government’s Learning Estate Improvement Programme (LEIP) but in October the SNP’s education secretary announced the Highlands would not get a penny.

Want to see more SNP fails? – Health Matters