MSP claims councils are victims of 'central belt bias'

Dundee, Angus and Perth & Kinross saw some of the biggest cuts in teacher numbers in defiance of the Scottish Government's recruitment drive.

Meanwhile, Glasgow City Council has added more than 100 teachers in the last year alone.

And Midlothian saw a similar percentage uplift, gaining 151 teachers since 2016 including 42 last year.

But these gains were offset by a cut of 210 teachers in the nine other councils with an SNP leader.

According to Freedom of Information data obtained by the Times, Angus axed 27 teacher posts in 2022, Dundee 22 jobs and Perth 12.Tess White, Scottish Conservative MSP, said: “The SNP’s brutal budget cuts have pushed Scottish councils to breaking point.

“This systemic underfunding has forced local authorities to take increasingly drastic measures, and now SNP-led councils like Dundee and Angus are cutting teacher numbers. This completely flies in the face of Nicola Sturgeon’s claims that education is the ‘number one’ priority for the SNP government.

“And it could get much worse – the education secretary is threatening councils with sanctions for not delivering policies which the SNP government has failed to provide funding for.

“Angus and Dundee councillors should be demanding a fair funding deal from their colleagues at Holyrood, and an end to central belt bias, to ensure our local schools aren’t paying the price for their shambolic mismanagement.”

Councils face financial penalties if they use money allocated for teacher recruitment on other services, Education Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville has confirmed.

But Angus Council’s finance chief has shared doubts that the local authority’s core functions can be met over the next two years due to funding cuts.

Listed on the Scottish Government website, these include: “education, social care, roads and transport, economic development, housing and planning, environmental protection, waste management, cultural and leisure services.”