Moray Council chief executive Karen Greaves support new Buckie school
Moray Council’s chief executive has called for Buckie to get a replacement secondary school, because residents “deserve a new school.”
Plans for a new school have been delayed due to a lack of funds, but Moray Council boss Karen Greaves insists the council staff are doing “everything we can.”
Part of her plan to improve Moray services includes calling on the Scottish Government to give the council more “flexibility” with funding, so money can be better spent.
Formerly of Orkney Islands Council, after three months in the job Ms Greaves was asked what Moray residents can hope from the council moving forward.
‘We have got to get a replacement school’
Currently, plans for a new school in Buckie have been delayed.
The council cannot afford to update the space without Scottish Government funding.
Ms Greaves said she is aware the council currently can’t fund a whole school but stressed “we are doing everything we can to try and push for funding.”
Despite this, she admitted people “will be anxious because they thought they were getting their new school and then Forres Academy had the RAAC issue.”
But she explained: “There are communications going backwards and forwards to try and be there, ready, at the front of the queue if another funding programme is announced.
“Or if there’s funding that’s not being used, that could be reallocated. The school won’t last forever.
“Any of the work that’s being done at the moment is just really a sticking plaster to keep it safe, keep it dry and to keep it warm. We have got to get a replacement school.”
Negativity around school’s condition can ‘demotivate staff’
Ms Greaves and Council Leader Kathleen Robertson issued a joint statement last month after photos of a dilapidated Buckie High School circulated online.
In their response, Councillor Roberson said the images came after a storm in early 2024, and the issues have since been addressed.
Ms Greaves said: “Sometimes things can be perceived wrongly, and it adds to the negative story. That can really demotivate staff.
“I went around Buckie school last month before the pictures were up, and I found a school that was really clean and tidy, there wasn’t graffiti.
“I felt that school was looked after by the children and the teachers.”
She added her aim is to balance work on a new school with short term repairs, as “you’ve got to look after the bairns of today… as well as the ones in the future.”
‘Money isn’t always the answer’
Away from home, one help to Ms Greaves’ work in delivering improved services in Moray could come through a better council pay deal from the Scottish Government.
However, improving “flexibility with our funding” would also go a long way, she explains.
Ms Greaves said: “Everybody would say they want more funding, but money isn’t always the answer.
“There are some areas where our priorities are directed for us to deliver by the Scottish government and maybe those priorities don’t quite fit with our region.”
She adds “every council has got to do the same” as bigger councils, but Moray is different and doesn’t have the same economies of scale, so having more control would be beneficial.
When will things start to improve?
Including work on a new Buckie High School, Ms Greaves was asked when people would start to notice improvements to services in Moray.
It comes several months on from a council budget which lumped £2 million of cuts with a 10 per cent council tax hike.
In a break from tradition, Moray Council did not have to rely on cash reserves for the budget this year and Ms Greaves “commended” councillors for this.
However, she admits “there will still be a bit of pain to come.”
“It’s about how we handle that and what can we offer as alternatives or different services delivered in a different way.”
“Are we going to have to do less things, but do them better? What can we stop doing?
“Most of our services are really valued by the community. And so you have to be so careful.”
‘We should be calling out things that are wasteful’
Handling some of this pain includes reducing wasted spending, which recently saw the council admit they spent £40,000 on windows that didn’t fit.
Ill-fitting window discussions brought forward questions of a fearful culture within the council to escalate problems.
Ms Greaves doesn’t believe this is the case, but she is leading work on shifting the local authorities’ culture in a different way.
She said: “We should be calling out things that are wasteful and it’s about making sure that everyone knows that that’s the new way of working.
“If we can do things right the first time, then it saves all the backlash when things don’t work.”
What else is on her priority list?
Both inside the council and across Moray, Ms Greaves has shared several development plans in the pipeline.
While she admits “there is a lot happening in Elgin,” her priority is making sure “there’s investment throughout the whole area.”
Ms Greaves said her goal is to see Moray secure as much of the recently announced £100 billion of Highlands and Islands investment projects as possible.
She is also looking at attracting more people into Moray as the opportunities are “off the scale here.”
Looking inward, the council are going to start looking at new technologies and making the back office “cheaper to run” so “more money is available for frontline services.”
A public meeting on a future Buckie school will be held on the June 17, and you can register to attend the event here.
