A bid to give councillors a clear understanding of proposals to cut school hours has been knocked back.
It was blocked after a vote to allow the motion to be debated failed to reach a two thirds majority, needed because the matter had been before councillors within the previous six months. The vote was 18 for the debate 10 against.
Success in the vote would have seen details of the plans and of Falkirk Council’s planned consultation exercise to a meeting of the council’s Education, Children and Young People’s Executive for scrutiny before they went out to staff, parents and pupils.
A disappointed Councillor Anne Hannah, leader of the Labour Group, which, along with many independent councillors, backed the motion unanimously, here explains why proper scrutiny of the proposals and the consultation to be carried out are so important.
Why was this motion brought forward today?
This motion was brought forward in the interests of democratic accountability and proper democratic scrutiny. Councillors have not been fully informed of the detail of the proposal that is going to be sent out for consultation with parents, school staff and pupils. The only written details we have been given are what was contained in Appendix 8 of the Council Agenda for 28th February 2024. We need an opportunity to see the details of the proposal, and to debate it. Two Education Children and Young People’s Executive meetings have been cancelled by the Council – in January and in March. This proposal could easily have been looked at in detail at the March Executive, but the Administration chose to cancel the meeting instead.
Falkirk Labour is committed to full and transparent consultation with parents, staff and pupils. This motion asked that full details be brought to the Education, Children and Young People’s Executive for discussion and scrutiny before wider consultation begins.
What impact will closing schools early on a Friday have across Falkirk?
Closure on a Friday afternoon impacts on childcare for families, particularly those with pupils in primary school or those with children with special needs. We have had no information about how children will be cared for if they are not in school. Hard pressed working families will struggle to pay for extra childcare costs.
More importantly the proposal to reduce the school week from 25 hours per week to 22.5 hours per week in primaries and from 26.6 hours per week to 24.75 in secondaries would mean that children in Falkirk would lose 10% of their learning time putting them at a significant disadvantage compared to children in all other areas of Scotland.
What has the reaction from teachers and local residents been to the proposals?
There is a great deal of misinformation going around because there has been no clear paper outlining the details of the proposal. Among other comments, the SNP Council Leader, Councillor Cecil Meiklejohn, has been quoted in the Falkirk Herald as saying:
“We must ask why the opposition are so afraid of engaging with those who matter most in this issue. Why on earth would anyone choose to overturn the decision to hear the voices of parents and pupils?”
We are not trying to prevent the consultation. We are trying to make it meaningful.
“Opposition councillors may be running scared of the public, but our administration and the SNP place the highest value on our communities, and it is right that this engagement process continues unhindered, underpinned by the democratic decisions made less than
Perhaps the SNP is running scared of being challenged on its proposal in a public space through the democratic process. Based on the information that is available, staff and residents are concerned about the impact it will have on young people’s education. Councillors have had many emails, calls and letters about this proposal.
How important is it that there is a full consultation?
It is vital on an issue as important as this. Falkirk Council has a very poor track record on consultation. There was a great deal of criticism about its approach to consultation on the Strategic Property Review, and the closure of Falkirk Town Hall. Both involved consultation exercises that were criticised for not giving a proper opportunity for people to say what they wanted to say. There was also a little publicised consultation on the budget proposals for 2024-2025. The Accounts Commission said of it: ”auditors found that the council’s budget consultation exercise was too general and performed too late to have any meaningful impact.” This needs to be a full, clear and transparent consultation. Parents, staff and pupils need to be given full information, and be given the opportunity to weigh up all the options.
Falkirk Labour wants this consultation to be clear, and transparent, and to ensure that staff, parents and pupils are fully informed of the implications. Twenty eight Primary School Parent Councils have told us:
- The ‘asymmetric week’ idea needs to be fully worked up as a proposal before a wider consultation takes place, with details of how this model can actually deliver savings over the medium to long term and what changes that would mean for our children’s education. A debate at the Education, Children and Young People’s Executive could contribute to this by providing cross-party scrutiny and the opportunity for Parent Councils to
send a delegation. - The scope of the consultation should go beyond the ‘asymmetric school week’ and should include a range of options for how savings could be delivered in order to help identify the solution(s) that would minimise the impact of reducing budgets.
- The consultation needs to be open with the opportunity to discuss and debate various options so the impact of future proposals can be properly understood, ideally through a series of facilitated discussions with parents and carers. The type of consultation commonly used by the Council where an online survey allows people to say ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to a proposal without being able to raise concerns or suggest alternatives (for example the consultation on the extension of the October holiday) is not acceptable in
these circumstances. - Particular care needs to be taken to ensure that the voices of people with protected characteristics are heard in the consultation, including children with Additional Special Needs and their families who will face specific challenges if the proposal is introduced.
- Parent Councils should be engaged in the development of the terms of the consultation and its format to ensure that it is accessible to parents and carers.
- The consultation should run for at least twelve weeks avoiding school holidays, and sufficient notice must be given to allow Parent Councils to prepare.
Falkirk Labour agrees wholeheartedly with this.