this is north scotland - news, entertainment, jobs, homes and cars

Council tax bills in Moray could rise by 5.5 per cent if multi-million-pound plans to overhaul six local schools through a public-private partnership (PPP) scheme go ahead.

Councillors will be asked on Wednesday to approve an outline business plan to be put before the Scottish Executive in an attempt to secure funding for significant investment in Moray's schools.

Consultants Atkins, Faithful and Gould have completed a financial appraisal of all the options open to the council for the upgrade of the six schools judged to be in most need of improvement.

These are Elgin Academy, Elgin High, Keith Grammar, Keith Primary, Kinloss Primary and Mosstodloch Primary.

Under the option that councillors will be asked to approve, Elgin High School would be remodelled and refurbished, while the others would be rebuilt on their existing sites at a cost of over £50million.

Private contractors would build the schools and lease them back to the council over a 30 or 40-year period.

The council would initially retain control of services such as catering, cleaning, grounds maintenance and janitorial, which under PPP would usually be transferred to the private sector.

If the PPP bid is approved by the Scottish Executive, the forecasted cost to the council would be £5.15million.

The report to be put before councillors on Wednesday states that the majority of this total would be funded from revenue support from the Executive and budget savings.

However, a balance of over £600,000 will have to be met from council tax in the first full year of the project.

The report states: "Revenue support from the Scottish Executive will remain at the same level throughout the project, whereas the annual charge for providing the managed service for the 30-year period will be subject to inflationary increases.

"The funding gap of £606,000 will increase each year.

"To allow for the funding gap, a calculation has been made for the one-off increase in council tax that would be required to fund the balance. This amount is 5.5 per cent.

"If this option was carried out by the council without obtaining additional revenue support from the Scottish Executive, an increase of 11.3 per cent on council tax would be required in the first full year."

The report explains that previous claims by educational services committee chairman, Councillor Sandy Keith, that council tax would have to be increased by 22 per cent if PPP funding was not obtained were "calculated using the best available information at that time".

But "changes in assumptions and more accurate estimates supplied by the consultants has allowed a more refined calculation to be undertaken".

Councillors will be informed at Wednesday's meeting that a project manager for the PPP scheme has been appointed, and that a project team will be essential to the success of the enterprise.

It is estimated that a council investment of between £800,000 and £1million will be required for the project team over the next three years.