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SNP politicians have hit out after new figures show the council are facing a £22.5 million bill for private finance initiative (PFI) schools for the next 12 months.

Analysis by the Scottish Parliament Information Centre has revealed local authorities across Scotland will pay £426.8 million in this financial year including North Lanarkshire’s £22.5 million bill.

Wishaw MSP Clare Adamson said: “The toxic legacy that Labour’s PFI deals have left our schools and North Lanarkshire Council continues to cost millions of pounds every year – and proves once again that only the SNP can be trusted to deliver on education and local funding.

“While Labour carp from the sidelines about the SNP’s record, it is increasingly clear that we are still paying for the mess that Labour left over a decade ago.

“Labour’s reckless handling of our public finances continues to rob North Lanarkshire of funds which could be put towards delivering better local services. And let’s not forget the potential consequences of Labour’s dodgy deals on shoddily-built schools across Edinburgh – forced to close for nearly 500 days because of fundamental safety concerns.

“It’s high time that Labour apologised for this toxic legacy that they’ve left for our schools, North Lanarkshire and local authorities across the country.”

Shotts MP Neil Gray also blasted the PFI figures.

Mr Gray said: “This is just another example of the shocking financial miss-management that has dogged this Labour-led administration. They have paid way over the odds for school buildings and that is now coming back to bite them.

“The number of examples of wasted money that Labour have been responsible for over the years is shocking.

“The removal and then re-instatement of the community alarms is a prime example as well as dragging employees through the courts to challenge their equal pay claims, wasting millions of pounds.”

Council Leader Jim Logue hit back at the SNP complaints stating his party would not apologise for building new schools for North Lanarkshire kids.

He said: “This is just the latest example of the SNP talking North Lanarkshire down when it comes to education and clearly illustrates the lack of vision they have for the area.

“Their hypocrisy is astonishing, give that several of their own infrastructure projects have been hit after running foul of strict EU rules on public spending.

“Their incompetence has meant that almost £1 billion earmarked for public sector projects has been lost and will be added to the long-term debt of NHS boards and local councils.

“The SNP government tell anybody who will listen that only they can protect our public services, yet their mismanagement is clear for all to see. Council services are being stretched to their limits to cover for the failings of this government and, yet again, they say one thing in public and another in private.

“We will never apologise for building state of the art schools to provide children in North Lanarkshire with the best possible start in life and we are committed to continuing that support, with £53 million of additional investment announced in this year’s Budget.

“We believe it’s time the SNP got behind the people of North Lanarkshire and support Labour’s ambitious plans for education.”