Catriona Renton BBC Scotland's politics show

Barrhead High is no longer "fit for purpose"

They're being given a free loan of bikes from the local council so they can get to school on time and keep healthy - but their school building is not in such good shape.

"We really need a new school," said pupil Ross McLauchlan. "It's not the most attractive of buildings anymore. There's holes in the ceiling.

"In the games hall, the roof leaks. The floor gets slippy and basketball games have had to be cancelled."

The school, built in 1970, is no longer fit for purpose and East Renfrewshire council is worried that the brakes have been put on new builds.

The education budget has not been cut Fiona Hyslop Education secretary

Before May's Scottish Parliament election, when Labour and the Liberal Democrats were still in power, councillors had agreed that they wanted to go ahead with two new schools under a public private partnership.

Under the SNP - a party which is highly critical of PPP schemes - they've asked for guidance on how the schools will be funded.

Officials met Finance Secretary John Swinney last month. Councillors are still waiting for answers.

The authority's Tory education spokesman Charlie Gilbert, said: "We've got two schools which require to be repaired and modernised, to be knocked down and be new schools, as quickly as possible.

"In order to do that we've got to have the financial plans in now, so that's why we need the word from Edinburgh."

The authority's education director, John Wilson, added: "I hope we can replace these schools, but obviously the scheme is an issue, and also whether we can afford whatever scheme is announced will be an issue as well."

The situation isn't just a worry in East Renfrewshire.

Dumbatron Academy was to become a new school under West Dumbartonshire Council's school programme, and there is concern that the plan could, for now, be dropped, following planning difficulties with the site.

The issue has been described as a "major challenge"

"When you look carefully at the budget that's been brought forward by the SNP government, the line that used to fund PPP has disappeared," said the local Labour MSP Jackie Baillie.

"Granted, they have put capital in, but the education budget, in real terms, has taken a significant cut."

West Dumbartonshire is looking at other options, but parents want a new school now.

Lesley Gray, of the local parent council, said: "A lot of pupils are very successful at this school. It is a credit to them that they are, given the limitations of the building."

The funding of public buildings was the top concern in a BBC poll before the May elections. Voters said they didn't want private companies to build and run schools and hospitals.

Borrowing limits

The SNP pledged to introduce a Scottish Futures Trust as an alternative, which would encourage greater use of public bond issues.

Dave Watson, of public sector union Unison, said he suspected the Scottish Government was having some difficulty in ensuring that the trust proposal was properly legal under the Scotland Act.

He added: "What they can do is to use the plan that we presented to them, which is to ensure that local authorities use their prudential borrowing powers and that they provide grants from the centre on a level playing field basis so that, whatever method of procurement a public authority uses, the government pays the same grant."

PPP schemes have been attractive, because they allowed investment without affecting overall public borrowing limits - but some experts are asking whether it will be possible to meet expectations.

Prof Irvine Lapsley, of the University of Edinburgh, said: "This is a major challenge for this government.

"The alternatives are to borrow more, which puts them on a collision course with Westminster, or to finance capital projects through revenue.

Ms Hyslop said alternative funding plans were advanced

"We've got a revenue squeeze and we've got a potential agreement with [council umbrella group] Cosla which still hasn't worked through with the local authorities."

But Education secretary Fiona Hyslop said the proposals for the public service trust were at an advanced stage and that publication would be brought forward "very soon".

She added that there was no problem with existing school building programmes.

"The education budget has not been cut," she said. Within the finances that the government has, education funding has been moved to local government."

Ms Hyslop said there was �115m extra in the first year of the government's spending plans to help with infrastructure, and a 15% increase in capital expenditure for councils over the three-year spending review.

"That's a very considerable investment for bricks and mortar," she said.