Inverclyde Council is to explore options to complete its £270 million schools estate programme five years earlier than planned.

The education & communities committee has agreed to bring forward the remaining primary as well as nursery school projects for delivery by 2020 should additional funding be made available through the council’s budget process.

Convener Councillor Terry Loughran said: “We have made excellent progress in providing state-of-the-art facilities for our children and young people but there are still major projects needed in our primaries and nurseries. These proposals already have cross-party support in the Council and they can now be considered as part of the overall budget process.”

The education & communities committee unanimously supported the proposals which include a new building for St Ninian’s Primary in Gourock instead of a refurbishment, and to continue to use the former St Stephen’s High building in Port Glasgow as a decant location.

An additional £6.8m is needed to deliver the programme by 2020.

Councillor Loughran added: “Education remains our number one priority. We have completely renewed our secondary estate and are working our way through a comprehensive and complex primary school programme. The majority of our children and young people are benefitting from some of the best school facilities in the country and for that reason we are determined to complete the outstanding projects sooner rather than later.”

Inverclyde Council has invested £270m in new and improved schools to date including £41m on the flagship Port Glasgow Community Campus. The site is home to three schools – Port Glasgow High, St Stephen’s High and Craigmarloch Additional Support Needs schools. It also houses a state of the art enterprise centre.

Last year the newly refurbished £6m Ardgowan Primary School was officially opened and the £2.8m refurbishment project at St John’s Primary in Port Glasgow completed. Work is well underway on the new £7m St Patrick’s primary in Greenock as well as a comprehensive refurbishment of Kilmacolm Primary at a total cost of £4.2m.