Funding cut for Edinburgh schools would be "absolutely devastating"

The proposed cut, contained in a draft report going to the education committee next week, comes as the local authority looks to close a £20 million funding gap.

Alison Murphy, secretary of the Educational Institute of Scotland’s Edinburgh branch, has urged councillors to reject the move, saying school budgets were already “incredibly tight”.

She said: “With all the pressures schools have there is no way to spin this to say that schools can lose this and it is not going to have a material impact on pupils.

“We’ve already got a whole load of head teachers who are on the edge because they can’t cope with all the demands that have been made.”

Education convener Joan Griffiths said the proposal “shows just how desperate our financial situation is and how difficult our budget decisions will be next month”.

She said the council’s 2024/25 deficit had doubled since the Scottish Government announced its settlement for local authorities.

The draft report, shared with the Local Democracy Reporting Service ahead of its publication later this week, sets out a proposed £8.2 million cut to devolved school management (DSM) funds. This is money given directly to head teachers to spend on anything from wages for additional staff to stationary and classroom supplies, IT equipment and basic school essentials such as photocopying and paper towels.

The report says the city’s education budget, which makes up almost one third of the council’s spending, ‘will also continue to grow with net investment of c. £9m in 2024/25’.

A group of head teachers from all sectors “met to agree these proposals,” it adds.

A breakdown of the total saving – which would be made over the next two years if approved – shows it would impact funding to provide additional capacity (£2.2m), additional non statutory funding provided over last three years to enhance both teaching and pupil support staffing levels (£2.4m) and a 1.2% reduction to overall DSM allocations (£3.6m).

However, Ms Murphy said the cut would be “absolutely devastating”.

She added: “There is not a school in Edinburgh that isn’t doing work that four or five years ago would have been considered work of mental health, social work and other support services. There are very few teachers who are actually just doing their day job of teaching.

“Teachers are already bringing in pens and pencils for the kids, it really is that basic in a lot of schools because there just is no more money.”

In response the council said Edinburgh’s schools have been protected in previous budget decisions.

Cllr Griffiths, Labour convener of the education committee, said: “I’m really angry such a sensitive report has been leaked ahead of its publication. It’s clearly been done to cause alarm before any decisions have been made and I’ve asked the chief executive to carry out an investigation.

“This is a still a draft report containing officer recommendations but the very fact that we’re even considering these savings shows just how desperate our financial situation is.”