FIFE COUNCIL have said that they have "no cause for concern" over safety at the Kingdom's PFI schools after publication of the Edinburgh schools inquiry.

Contractors were ordered by the council to carry out inspections last April after 17 schools in the capital were closed following safety fears over the standard of their construction.

The 10 primaries, five secondaries and two additional needs support schools were built through the same Private Finance Initiative (PFI) scheme and councils across the country were asked to check their buildings due to concerns those built under PFI could pose a safety risk.

The independent report into the closure of Edinburgh's 17 schools was published last week and the Minister for Housing and Local Government, Kevin Stewart, has subsequently written to local authorities "highlighting the points and recommendations this report raises around compliance and fire-stopping".

After revealing he was "very concerned" by some of the findings highlighted in the report, the minister said that he was "determined that we do all we can at both local and national level to ensure the building standards regime is as strong as possible".

PFI was used to build Beath High School but was designed by a different team and constructed by a different contractor to that who built the Edinburgh schools, Miller Construction, who also built a number of schools in the West Fife area.

Alan Paul, senior manager for property services with the council,, commented: "All investigations to date have given us no cause for concern and the schools are operating normally. However, we will continue to monitor the situation and will work with contractors to address any issues that may become apparent in due course."

Mr Stewart commented: "The safety of people in public buildings is an absolute priority and I am very concerned by some of the findings highlighted in this report.

"Last April the then Education Secretary stressed to CEC (City of Edinburgh Council) the need to ensure all affected buildings were repaired as quickly as possible to ensure that pupils and staff could safely return to their own schools as soon as possible. This government also wrote to all local authorities asking them to assure themselves of the safety of their own buildings given the issues identified in Edinburgh and to undertake surveys and inspections where necessary.

"I have again written to local authorities highlighting the points and recommendations this report raises around compliance and fire-stopping. I have underlined the importance of adhering to building regulations, technical standards and the inspection processes which are in place to protect the public.

"I have been clear with local authorities that any instance of non-compliance is completely unacceptable. As I consider this report in full, I will be looking at the system with which we hold building owners, developers and compliance authorities to account during construction.

"I am determined that we do all we can at both local and national level to ensure the building standards regime is as strong as possible and, crucially, that it is complied with to ensure the safety of our public buildings."