EAST Lothian’s secondary schools are structurally safe, East Lothian Council has assured parents.

The council launched an investigation into the safety of its six secondary schools, as well as the Mercat Gait Centre in Prestonpans and Musselburgh Community Learning Centre, earlier this month following the closure of numerous schools in Edinburgh.

All eight buildings had been refurbished through a public private partnership (PPP) agreement more than 10 years ago.

Earlier this month, City of Edinburgh Council closed 17 schools amid safety concerns sparked by the collapse of a wall at one of its primary schools in January, leading to structural reviews of schools built under the same PPP agreement – though by a different construction company than the East Lothian buildings.

Following the city council’s decision, the Scottish Government urged all local authorities to carry out emergency checks on their own school buildings.

Now, a letter from Fiona Robertson, East Lothian Council’s new head of education, has been sent out to schools assuring parents that the buildings are safe.

The letter reads: “As previously stated, the buildings in East Lothian were not constructed by the same construction company related to the affected City of Edinburgh Council schools.

“East Lothian Council sought and received assurances on the safety of the buildings from the facilities management company responsible for managing these buildings.

“I can confirm that a visual inspection was carried out at all eight sites and confirmation has been given that there is no evidence of structural weakness being evident in any of the buildings.

“The facilities management company will continue to routinely inspect the buildings in line with its contractual requirements, which include annual condition surveys carried out by building surveyors, annual inspections and fire risk assessments, and the council will liaise with our facilities management partner in this regard.”