Cash unspent

Government cash was to help most deprived kids

More than £600,000 dished out to South Lanarkshire Council to close the attainment gap has been left unspent.

South Lanarkshire Council was awarded £1.925 million from the Scottish Government’s Attainment Challenge Schools Programme in the 2016/17 school year.

More than £600,000 dished out to South Lanarkshire Council to better the life chances of children from some of the most deprived areas in the country has not been spent.

South Lanarkshire Council was awarded £1.925 million from the Scottish Government’s Attainment Challenge Schools Programme in the 2016/17 school year.

But the local authority failed to spend more than one third of the total cash available, £609,000, which will remain with the government.

The money was supposed to be used in schools where a large portion of the children live in poverty.

It was to be invested in initiatives that would close the attainment gap between those children and their counterparts from more affluent areas.

In one Rutherglen school alone – St Mark’s Primary – £28,000 was not spent.

The Blairbeth school had been allocated £71,000 because it has a significant number of children who come from levels one or two of the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation.

Yvonne Jackson, of St Mark’s Primary’s Parent Council, said the Scottish Government must look again at how the attainment challenge is delivered, stating it was failing the children it is supposed to support.

“I’m really upset and taken aback at the scale of this underspend,” Yvonne said.

“They have to be looking at why such a chunk of that money is not being spent. By saying to a local authority you need extra money because you have these children in deprivation, but the council are for whatever reason unable to spend that, that’s not good enough.”

Yvonne added: “The Scottish Government sent the parent teacher council a letter in June saying we are looking just now at the allocation for the next session. Why is this happening at the end of June?

“When are teachers going to be told in order to make plans? Surely now they should be planning not for this academic year coming but the following year.”

Anne Donaldson, head of education at the council, said: “The funding for the Scottish Attainment Challenge fund is a grant claim.

“South Lanarkshire’s 20 Scottish Attainment Challenge schools submitted an early indication of the sums that they envisaged would be required and a claim was submitted at the end of the financial year for the actual spend. As in the case of all planning situations, changes inevitably occur that have a resultant impact on the implementation of plans.

“We are delighted to say that St Mark’s was able to progress its plan effectively and that positive outcomes have been achieved for the children.”

A spokeswoman for the Scottish Government said: “We continue to work closely with local authorities and schools to improve financial forecasting and to ensure maximum impact from the funding available.

“To assist in planning use of their funding, schools and headteachers have access to a network of Education Scotland attainment advisors and a range of online resources such as interventions for equity which provides innovative examples currently being used across Scotland aimed at closing the poverty-related attainment

You have to be looking at why such a chunk of that money is not being spent