First Minister Nicola Sturgeon is under pressure to act after it was revealed washing machines have been ordered to help bring an end to a four-year bed bug crisis at a primary school in her Glasgow constituency.
Ms Sturgeon insisted she was on top of the work being done to the outbreaks – but claimed the problem also exists in “different parts of Glasgow”.
Tory MSP Annie Wells quizzed the First Minister in the debating chamber at Holyrood following yesterday’s reports in The Herald and the Evening Times, our sister paper, on the infestation at St Bride’s Primary.
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However, the only schools which have reported bedbugs – St Bride’s, Annette Street Primary and Pollokshields Primary – are less than a mile apart and all fall within Ms Sturgeon’s Glasgow Southside constituency.
Ms Wells asked: “In my Glasgow region and the First Minister’s constituency, a school has been forced to take desperate action to eliminate a four-year bedbug infestation ordeal.“Kids are getting rashes; pest control teams are visiting every few months; and staff have had to destroy their home furniture. First Minister, what century is this?”
Ms Sturgeon said it was “an issue in different parts of Glasgow”, and that “intensive work” was being done by the council to combat the problem.
Speaking at Holyrood, she said: “I speak to council officials regularly on these matters and about the other issues that are raised in this area of my constituency and I know that intensive work is going on.
“All of us have to encourage those involved in this to follow all the guidelines so that the work that is being done has the best chance of succeeding.”
The First Minister was only made aware of the affected schools when informed of a report obtained via a freedom of information request by the Evening Times.
A spokesman for Nicola Sturgeon added: “The First Minister was seeking to acknowledge the facts of the Evening Times story, and the freedom of information request on which it was based, that identified three schools across Govanhill and Pollokshields.
“As constituency MSP she is sighted on the intensive work that is being done by the council to tackle this ongoing problem.”
But parents at St Bride’s Primary yesterday voiced their shock and concern at the extent of its four-year battle with bed bug infestation.
One, whose daughter only joined the school a few months ago, was concerned that they had not been made aware of the issues given the last sighting of a bug was just one month before.
He added: “This is very worrying. My daughter joined the school four months ago and it was not mentioned to us at all.
“The school had warned us about wearing too many layers of clothing, but that is all. I am shocked by this and will be asking to meet with the teachers to get all the facts.”
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Another claimed they had no idea about the problem, adding: “I turned up at school today and saw the cameras, I didn’t know anything about it.
“I shouldn’t have to Google things to find out what’s going on at school.”
A Glasgow City Council spokeswoman reiterated that there had been no new sightings in the school since January, with the school communicating to parents in various languages and installing information posters.” She added: “Information, advice and a telephone number for parents who need to contact environmental protection services as well as new actions in the school to mitigate risk of any return of bedbugs has been included in each school newsletter over the last few months.
“That’s on top of the newspaper stories at the beginning of this year.”
While some parents remained concerned about the bugs, a member of staff at the school told the Evening Times they were not worried about the possibility of picking up the creatures.
He added he had not been informed about the bedbugs.
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