... and it could get worse as funding is cut

PLANS to build a string of modern schools across Scotland have had to be shelved because of SNP cutbacks, council leaders warn today.

Local authorities had planned a multimillion-pound programme of construction to replace outdated Victorian schools with 21st Century buildings. But a group of councils has told The Scottish Mail on Sunday that a lack of funds has forced them to put on hold at least a dozen new schools.

Council leaders accuse Finance Secretary Derek Mackay of ‘slash and burn’ economics which are putting education under threat.

Glasgow, Aberdeen, South Lanarkshire and Renfrewshire say they face a total cut of more than £100 million as a result of Mr Mackay’s first Budget and warn education standards will continue to fall.

The four councils have formed a breakaway Scottish Local Government Partnership. It doubts if Nicola Sturgeon’s top priority of closing the attainment gap between rich and poor pupils can now be achieved because of the cutbacks. Spokesman Jenny Laing, leader of Aberdeen Council, said yesterday: ‘We have been warning Nicola Sturgeon that if she continues with her annual attack on council budgets, then it would be impossible to deliver all the services we want to. Our pleas were ignored and now the chickens are coming home to roost.’

Mark Macmillan, leader of Renfrewshire Council, said: ‘The SNP’s record on education is atrocious and Scotland has gone from leading the world to languishing at the bottom of the global league table.’

Scottish Labour education spokesman Iain Gray warned: ‘The SNP’s budget will rip the heart out of... our education system.’

A Scottish Government spokesman said last night: ‘The Scottish Government has treated local government very fairly, despite the cuts to the Scottish Budget from the UK Government.’