Almost 100 Highland schools left heating on in summer holidays

A check of 117 schools in the Highlands found 93 had left their heating systems fully operational at the start of this year’s summer holidays.

Highland Council also found a further 11 sites had the heating on, but on reduced hours, while the rest had switched off their systems.

Council staff were able to remotely turn off systems at 83 sites where the heating was still on – helping the local authority to save more than £48,000 in energy costs.

In a report, Highland Council said it had reissued guidance to schools on controlling their heating.

The report to November’s meeting of the council’s climate change committee also said the checks could be repeated next year.

Schools are also to be asked to confirm heating systems are switched off by the end of June each year.

In the report, officers said taking this action would reduce carbon emissions and costs.

Highland Council has about 200 schools in total.

A separate report to the climate change committee said 60% of the local authority’s total emissions in 2024-25 were attributed to its non-domestic properties, which include schools.