Every child in Fife, and across Scotland, should have the right to equal access to education in order to reach their potential. With over £5 million of cuts to the latest Fife Education Budget that makes it harder to achieve that goal. This is not abut individual party politics, it is about what is right for our children’s futures. But with the Scottish Government cutting local authority budgets across the country, it is our children that are suffering as a result. I have raised a motion in the Scottish Parliament to highlight this which is available below.
Motion Number: S5M-10610
Lodged By: Alex Rowley
Date Lodged: 22/02/2018
Title: Fife Council Education Budget Cuts
Motion Text:
That the Parliament notes with concern the decision of Fife Council, which it considers is as a result of its budget allocation from the Scottish Government, to make cuts of £5.237 million from its education budget and understands that this includes £100,000 from the budget that is used to support disabled children, £950,000 from specialist support to schools, £390,000 from reducing the number of nursery teacher posts, a cut of £270,000 from the delivery of work by the Pedagogy Team, and a £200,000 reduction in 15 to 24-year-old’s Learner Journey; believes with regret that there will be a reduction in the number of education psychologists in order to save £200,000, along with a reduction in the allocation of staffing for the Pupil Support Service, saving £100,000; understands that out of school care services will be cut by £380,000 along with £200,000 taken from professional development support for teachers, and £1.297 million cut from devolved school management; further understands that changes to school catering budgets will result in a cut of £428,000, which includes a reduction in free fruit provision for primary and nursery school children of £83,000, and that a revised catering menu for primary school children will achieve a further cut of £200,000; believes that every child should get the best chance to achieve their potential, and is concerned that these further cuts to frontline education in Fife will significantly limit the possibility to achieve this objective.
