Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
City teacher posts are
Council bid to save £2m by slashing 32 full-time jobs
DUNDEE City Council is set to cut dozens of teacher posts in a bid to save close to £2 million.
The local authority’s budget proposals confirmed plans to slash 32 full-time teachers across the city’s primary and secondary schools.
It’s estimated the reduction will save the council around £1.9m in the upcoming financial year.
But city council chiefs admit the cuts could have an impact on the ability of schools to provide enhanced support to pupils.
Where are the cuts coming from?
•According
to budget papers, the proposed saving is expected to be delivered in two ways: Change the existing formula for mainstream teachers which will result in a reduction of approximately 28 full-time equivalent (FTE) teachers based on projected pupil rolls and change the allocation of newlyqualified teachers to primary schools, increasing from 0.6 FTE to 0.7 FTE. This equates to an approximate saving of 4.7 FTE based on projected pupil rolls.
The above change would result in an overall reduction in 32.7 FTE teachers and deliver an annual saving of £1.984m.
These savings have been identified by officers in the council’s Children and Families Service, rather than the SNP administration.
As of September 2023, Dundee had a total of 1,431 teachers working across primary and secondary schools.
The number of teachers the Scottish Government expects Dundee City Council to maintain is 1,395 full-time equivalents.
However, an impact assessment included in the budget papers outlines the proposed cuts will have a “negative” impact on pupils and employment opportunities.
The report noted the reduction in numbers will impact on the “flexibility of schools to be able to provide enhanced support to children and young people”.
It also highlighted the cuts will result in fewer teacher job opportunities in the city.
Meanwhile, several Dundee leisure venues have been saved from the threat of closure – for now – after the council’s budget proposals were unveiled.
The administration will dip into reserves of more than £6m to save the likes of Caird Park golf courses and Broughty Castle from immediate closure.
However, ruling councillors say their £620,000 investment in keeping the facilities open will happen “while consultation on various service proposals takes place”.
It comes after the closures of the venues – along with Mills Observatory and two libraries – were among a raft of proposals to help the council plug a financial gap of about £24m.
SNP leader John Alexander also confirmed controversial parking charges mooted for Broughty Ferry will not go ahead.
There will also be no cuts to school crossing patrollers, and bin collections will remain the same.
The SNP says its budget will also “add support for the most vulnerable in the city” with an extra £500,000 to support foodbanks and food larders to tackle the cost-of-living crisis.
Asked whether this year’s investment in Leisure and Culture Dundee may simply delay the closures of venues, Mr Alexander said he could not give a guarantee.
He said: “The budget is only for the year 2024-25 as we only receive year-to-year funding from Scottish Government so, to be fair, that is always the case.
“We don’t know what the budget position will be in 12 months’ time and with the added uncertainty of the general election, it’s all up in the air.
“I can’t guarantee anything budget-wise because 83% is decided at a national level.
“However, I’m confident that through the work we’ve asked
officers to do to maximise usage, look at sponsorship and alternative funding, alternative delivery models etc that we can avoid closure.
“Closure should always be the absolutely last resort and plugging the gap for the year ahead gives us the space to work on the problem.”
A final decision on the budget will be made at a meeting on Thursday.