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Digesting the Scottish Budget
Shortly before this SEJ went to print, the Scottish Government announced their draft budget for the year ahead. This is not the final budget – there will be much horse-trading at Holyrood and with local authorities, through COSLA, before the final version of the budget is approved, sometime in the new year.
The draft budget does, however, give important insight into the government’s priorities for the year ahead.
So, where does support for Scottish education rank in the government’s list of priorities? On the face of it, not particularly high. The statement in the parliament chamber by Finance Secretary Shona Robison did mention support for education, albeit very briefly, and there was no mention at all of delivery of Scottish Government commitments to recruit 3,500 additional teachers and to lower teachers’ class contact time to a maximum of 21 hours per week. These were disappointing omissions.
Subsequent scrutiny of the detail of the draft budget does offer some cause for optimism. In addition to more money for early years and primary school breakfast clubs, there was the announcement of funding to support training of teachers in ASN. Further, the detail of the budget documents revealed that maintaining teacher numbers remains a priority for the Scottish Government – the SEJ understands that some of the additional funding offered to local authorities is contingent on maintaining teacher numbers, preserving the length of the learning week, and delivering progress on class-contact reductions.
We have heard similar talk before, of course, and past experience with the Scottish Government attempting to compel local authorities to deliver education commitments through the prospect of more (or less) funding has not always gone well. A number of local authorities have recently chosen to cut teacher numbers – in defiance of existing commitments – and to accept any financial penalties that have resulted.
It is certainly the case that there is more money in the pot for the delivery of public services that there has been for many years. The change in government at Westminster has led to a different approach to taxation and spending, and this has resulted in the promise of an extra £5Bn to support Scottish public services over this year and next. The EIS has been campaigning, strongly, for a sizeable chunk of this additional funding to be spent on education.
The Stand Up for Quality Education campaign continues to make the case for a better deal for Scotland’s schools, learners and teachers. The EIS will keep the pressure on in the coming weeks and months, as the haggling between government, local authorities and different factions in parliament continues ahead of the final budget being set.
As our cover illustration alludes to, the proof of the pudding is in the eating – it is only when we finally get to taste what has been cooked up that we will know whether Scottish education has been served up a veritable feast, or if it is expected to eke out a meagre existence on a very thin gruel from those who are supposed to be keeping it in good health.
Festive Greetings from the SEJ
As we hurtle towards the end of term and the long-awaited winter break, the SEJ would like to wish all of its readers all the very best for the festive season, and a very Happy New Year when it comes. We hope that you will be able to enjoy a relaxing break, in good company, and return refreshed in 2025. See our popular end-of-year prize quiz in the centre pages of this edition as our small contribution to the festivities!
