Scottish Borders Council is expecting some disruption to some services as a result of a one-day strike on Wednesday 24th September by national local government staff. Updates will be posted on their website as soon as they become available.

Latest information

Schools
The following schools will be closed:

Burnfoot Primary and Nursery
Coldstream Nursery
Drumlanrig Primary and Nursery
Earlston High School
Galashiels Academy
Glendinning Primary and Nursery
Halyrude Primary
Hawick High School - S1-S3 only (open for S4-S6)
Kelso High School
Kirkhope Nursery
Langlee Support Centre
Melrose Nursery
Morebattle Primary and Nursery
Newcastleton Primary and Nursery
Newtown Primary and Nursery
Parkside Primary and Nursery
Reston Primary and Nursery
Trinity Primary and Nursery
Wilton Primary and Nursery
Transforming Children's Services

Public and staff engagement meetings on the Transforming Children's Services review, planned for the evening of Wednesday 24th September at Kelso High School, have been cancelled and will now take place on Monday 6 October at the same venue.

School meals
There will be no school meals for any schools, apart from a packed lunch for children entitled to free school meals.

School buses
The disruption to school bus services should be minimal, with at the most, four services affected (only Council-operated routes may be disrupted by this industrial action). These will tend to be small feeder routes or rural school runs. Special needs transport could also be affected - again full details will be confirmed on Wednesday. The advice is to wait for 15 minutes for school buses, but if they haven't arrived by then, the likelihood is that the service has been affected by the strike. Parents can call 01835 825123 and updates will appear on this page as soon as details are known.

Day Centres
The Ability Centre, Galashiels will be closed.

Waste management
Scottish Borders Council is working to provide as normal a refuse collection service as possible on Wednesday 24 September. The extent of the any disruption will not be known for certain until Wednesday. Normal refuse collection schedules will be given priority over recycling collections where staff are available on that day.

If your refuse is not collected on Wednesday, please leave it out as it will be collected as soon as possible
If your recycling is not collected, please take it back in as it will be collected the following week. Community recycling centres, transfer stations and the landfill may also be affected, but again the full extent will not be known until Wednesday. Anyone planning to visit any of those facilities should call the Council first on 01835 825111 or check this page for latest information
Updates regarding refuse collections will also be available by calling 01835 825111.

There will be knock-on effects of the disruption, but the Council will prioritise domestic refuse collections and normal service will be resumed as soon as possible.