WHICH SERVICES ARE IN THE FIRING LINE? Young lives ‘being put at risk’ by Dundee council’s axing of swimming lessons as budget cuts hit hard

By John Jeffay

● Children’s services: About 15,000 youngsters are on the protection register and early intervention investment must continue to drive that number down. ● Affordable housing: Budgets for new homes could be squeezed along with efforts to tackle homelessness ● Bin collections: may become less frequent to save cash ● Culture: Libraries, leisure centres and museums may see reduced opening times and entry hikes. ● Education: Teacher numbers are protected and cannot be cut unless rolls fall. But support services, such as classroom assistants and music tuition, are likely to be in danger. ● Adult Social Care: The ageing population means that councils are struggling to keep pace with soaring demand, despite spending rises in recent years. Councils also support vulnerable adults and support those with mental health issues. ● Economic growth: More than a quarter of a billion pounds are invested in growth by councils supporting over 15,000 businesses, helping tens of thousands of people into jobs. ● Trading standards and environmental health: This workforce has fallen by up to a fifth in recent years which could have a worrying knockon effect given the prospect of significant regulatory changes coming after Brexit. ● Roads: Councils face growing anger over potholes on Scotland’s roads despite efforts to maintain budgets.

Council bosses in Dundee are under fire after they axed all swimming lessons for primary pupils.

The local authority said taking children out of lessons was not “efficient”. They can spend two hours out of school for just 20minutes in the water, a council spokesman said.

But opponents say youngsters’ lives are being put at risk by SNP cuts. Forty per cent of Scottish children cannot swim 25 metres.

The council – which said the decision was taken following discussions with head teachers – said schools that want to continue swimming lessons could pay using Pupil Equity Funding provided by the Scottish Government to cut the attainment gap.

Lochee Labour councillor 0 Labour’s Michael Marra blamed SNP cuts for decision Michael Marra said axing lessons was a “direct result of SNP cuts”, while Sharon Macdonald, director of development at Scottish Swimming, said the decision was “disappointing” and that without lessons many children from poorer backgrounds would no longer learn to swim.

She said: “It is very disappointing, but Dundee is not the first and it will not be the last council in Scotland to do this.

“There is a direct correlation between a pupil’s economic background and learning to swim, so for some children if they don’t learn to swim at school, they won’t learn at all. It is disappointing, but we understand the economic pressures councils are under.”

The Scottish Government provided grants to encourage children from disadvantaged areas to learn to swim, but this scheme ended in 2015.

Unlike England, there is no obligation to teach children swimming in Scotland.

Ms Macdonald said, as well as health benefits, learning to swim taught children about water safety. She said: “Previous research found 40 per cent of children could not swim 25 metres, which is not great for a country with a lot of open water and lochs.”

Mr Marra said: “Learning to swim is a vital life skill that makes our children safer and healthier. Scrapping swimming instruction in our primary schools is the direct result of SNP cuts from Edinburgh being passed on by the SNP in Dundee.

“Most families have no alternatives and kids will now go without swimming lessons. There is a twoyear waiting list for council swimming and that is if you can afford to pay the fees.

“I have real concerns that Pupil Equity Funding could be used to plug the gap.

“That money is meant to be providing additional support for pupils who find themselves in poverty and in need of support to meet their potential.

“If the council is cutting services and trying to raid this pot to replace them only for some pupils, then they are making things less equal rather than improving the situation.”

A spokesperson for Dundee City Council said: “Following discussions with primary head teachers, it was agreed that swimming lessons for pupils in their current form were not the most effective or efficient way of delivering the curriculum during the school day.

“In some cases a class could be out of school for up to two hours and only have 20 minutes in the pool.”