Bah, humbug! Pupils banned from giving teachers Xmas gifts

Parents’ anger over edict by council bureaucrats

It is a seasonal tradition that is loved by the children as much as it is the teachers.

But Christmas has been cancelled for pupils by one council after they were banned from giving gifts to their teachers.

Schools have been advised to tell parents and pupils not to give any Christmas presents to teachers and staff.

Employees at Falkirk Council have been subject to the ban on receiving gifts for a number of years but it is believed this is the first year it has applied to teachers.

the ban has been met with anger from parents who could not understand why it has now been put in place.

One parent, who did not want to be named, was astonished when she received a Christmas newsletter from her child’s primary school last week.

the newsletter stated: ‘As we approach Christmas and recognise that children often bring gifts to school for teachers and other staff, we have been asked to share a new policy from Falkirk Council which prevents any employee from receiving gifts.

‘We therefore ask that if you or your child wishes to gift anything to staff that this could possibly be in the form of a card. We appreciate your co-operation.’

the angry mother could not see why a pupil should be barred from showing gratitude to their teachers.

She said: ‘My son has given his teachers a Christmas present every year he has been at the school.

‘I don’t see what the harm is – he just wants to show his teacher how much he appreciates the job she is doing and the help she gives him.

‘He got quite upset when I told him what the newsletter said and couldn’t understand why giving his teacher a present was a bad thing.

‘It’s never anything big or expensive, just something thoughtful.’

Members, officers and employees of Falkirk Council are required to adhere strictly to its policies and procedures.

Codes of conduct contain rules on issues such as gifts and hospitality.

A Falkirk Council spokesman said: ‘Some parents and pupils choose to offer a gift to a member of the school team at this time of year.

‘While the sentiment is understood, the council has agreed a policy which sets out clearly that no member of staff working for Falkirk Council should accept gifts or hospitality. this policy has been in place for non-teaching staff for a number of years.

‘If any gifts or hospitality offers are accepted then these must be properly recorded and headteachers or service managers should be informed.’

Colin Finlay, Educational Institute of Scotland learning representative, said: ‘Every time this comes up the council are said to be mean at Christmas but they are HMRC rules and it will be Falkirk Council that falls foul of them if they are breached.

‘According to the HMRC, gifts to council employees can be perceived to be, on some occasions, something like a bribe.’

But last night a spokesman for HMRC insisted that rules concerning the giving of gifts to teachers were not laid down by them. He said there are no such HMRC guidelines, that Mr Finlay was mistaken and that the issue was a matter for local authorities to comment on.

David Mackay, head of education at Falkirk Council, said ‘small individual token gifts’ would be acceptable but they would need to be recorded.

A source at Glasgow City Council said it would not impose a blanket ban on presents to teachers and would let headteachers make that ‘judgement call’.

A City of Edinburgh Council source said a decision is at the discretion of each school in the city.

‘I don’t see what the harm is’