Council backs down over pupil fund
ONE of Scotland’s largest councils has backed down in a row with ministers over the use of a multi-million pound fund to help pupils from poorer backgrounds.
North Lanarkshire Council had been threatened with losing more than £8million from the Pupil Equity Fund (PEF) after demanding headteachers use £1m to pay for existing classroom assistants.
Guidelines state the fund is under the control of headteachers and should not be used to support existing projects.
After discussions between the Scottish Government and council officials North Lanarkshire has now agreed to abide by the fund’s rules.
A Scottish Government spokesman said: “We have now received notification the council has withdrawn a proposal that would have seen this funding effectively top-sliced to pay for existing classroom assistants.
“Ministers have now approved the release of funding to North Lanarkshire Council.
“Pupil equity funding is a hugely valuable resource that should be additional to existing provision and used at the discretion of headteachers.”
Council chief executive Paul Jukes said they disputed the interpretation of its actions, but wanted to ensure pupils did not miss out.
He said: “To be clear, our proposals did not in our view represent top-slicing of any kind, but given that headteachers require certainty about the money available to them now, we have taken a pragmatic approach to ensure pupils are not disadvantaged.”