A spotlight has been shone on “culture” and “transparency” issues within Renfrewshire Council as a watchdog examines the organisation’s response to the Dargavel Primary School capacity saga.

A Section 102 report by controller of audit Helena Gray – focusing on the local authority’s response to last year’s damning investigation by expert David Bowles – was discussed by the Accounts Commission on Thursday.

The session covered various themes relating to the debacle, which saw the school in Bishopton’s Arrochar Drive built too small, including community engagement, lessons learned and leadership and governance.

The council has taken steps to address capacity issues – including introducing modular classrooms at Dargavel Primary and planning a new 800-pupil school in Craigton Drive – which have been acknowledged by Ms Gray.

However, she raised concerns about the initial communication of its decision to extend Park Mains High School in Erskine from a capacity of around 1600 to 2000.

She said: “It is essential that the council is open and transparent on the range of options available in relation to the school estate, the process through which stakeholder views can be heard and the basis on which decisions will be taken.

“It’s my view that the council should have explained its decision-making process more clearly and transparently when finalising the decision to extend Park Mains High School.

“It’s clear from the Bowles report that the council faces a significant challenge to rebuild trust and confidence with the affected communities.”

Some councillors and members of the community remain adamant a new high school will be needed to deal with future demand from Dargavel Village.

However, the local authority has said this could cost more than £90 million and would create inefficiencies in the school estate.

In her report, Ms Gray referenced the lack of a “formal options appraisal” to support its decision-making on the Park Mains expansion in May and said it didn’t explain why it felt it wasn’t required or how it would engage with the community on its rationale. She added the council’s approach was consistent with Scottish Government guidance but said it remains a “significant omission” in the process.

Commission member Ruth MacLeod asked how it can be assured the council understands its responsibility to produce a “genuine level of engagement”.

She said: “I would have hoped that the communications around Park Mains High School was done in a different way after a very long period over a number of years of community stakeholders saying that things were not working well.”

Ms Gray responded: “It’s important not to conflate the issues of consultation, and formal consultation, and engagement, and that’s where in my mind when the council took the decision to extend Park Mains High School there was no explanation at the time as to why no alternative options were being put forward or why no engagement was being considered as part of the decision-making process. For me, that’s the area that I might have expected to have seen more.”

Gary Devlin, external auditor appointed to the council, added: “If you get the culture right, these types of issues about how well you engage and respond take care of themselves.”

Commission member Andrew Cowie said the Bowles report was “very clear” the council needed to build a stronger organisation where “constructive challenge” was welcomed. He asked if there was evidence of “significant change” at the council in relation to this recommendation.

Mr Devlin responded: “The Bowles report raises and our report raises quite significant issues on governance and scrutiny that do need to be addressed and the council has accepted that.”

The historic errors have left behind a bill of £45m for the new primary and £15m towards the Park Mains expansion.

Section 102 reports are prepared by the controller of audit for the Accounts Commission when specific concerns or issues are raised in the audit of a council. Having considered the paper, the commission is expected to decide how it wants to proceed.

After the meeting, a council spokesperson said: “We note the Section 102 report published by the Accounts Commission and we await the commission’s findings.

“We acknowledge the comments made regarding how the decision-making around the Park Mains extension was initially communicated, but would point out we have since had ongoing positive and constructive engagement with the Park Mains school community regarding this decision, which has included sharing detailed analysis of the rationale behind it.”