Falkirk Council: Consultation on cutting school week will go ahead

Falkirk’s SNP administration stressed that no decisions have yet been made on the proposal for pupils to finish at lunchtime on Fridays and they are keen to “hear the voices of parents, carers, pupils, and others”.

Falkirk Council says the change – which will cut time spent in class by ten per cent – would help address a £60 million budget gap.

But a former SNP councillor – once the group’s education portfolio holder – has criticised the lack of detail ahead of the consultation.

At a special meeting of Falkirk Council on Tuesday, Councillor Laura Murtagh failed in a bid to get the matter discussed publicly at a meeting of the Education, Children and Young People’s executive (ECYP).

Ms Murtagh had to requisition the meeting with the support of Labour and Independent councillors as the council’s rules state that any decision made less than six months ago cannot be overturned without a two-thirds majority of members.

As the decision to go to consultation had been endorsed at the council’s budget meeting, the ‘six month rule’ applied.

Ms Murtagh, who now sits as an Independent, was left frustrated as 18 councillors – Labour, Conservative and Independent – supported her call while ten members of the SNP rejected the idea.

The SNP said the proposal would delay the consultation for no reason and with 19 votes needed, they won the day.

Councillor Iain Sinclair, portfolio holder for education, said: “While the proposals for changes to the school week have been developed and brought forward by a strategic group of our heads of establishment, and senior council officers, no decisions have been made on them other than to get information out to stakeholders and gather their views through a comprehensive engagement process.

“Whatever comes out of this will come back to members for decision, fully informed and with recommendations from officers.

“What is regrettable is that beginning this process has had to be delayed because of today’s meeting, with inaccurate information circulating online.

“We must now move quickly to hear the voices of parents, carers, pupils, and others – and I trust that everyone will go forward to engage reasonably and with an open mind on how best to improve outcomes for our children and young people.

“Today’s council meeting is a stark reminder of the bad old days of Falkirk Council and the need to move forwards.

“Taking up valuable officer and council time, standing in the way of getting on with the job we have all been elected to do – improve services, deliver balanced budgets and, ultimately, ensure that we take forward a council that is fit for purpose and delivers for our communities.”

Ms Murtagh said she was disappointed with the outcome but felt “the argument was won” as a majority of councillors had backed her.

She said: “I am absolutely dismayed that my former group would block even the discussion on this topic, despite the clear support and calls from the parent body, as well as the majority of democratically elected councillors.

“This is no ordinary proposal. It is a vital one to get right for the future of our children and the impact on Falkirk’s families. It should never have been buried in a budget report in the way it was and I am absolutely disgusted by the attempts to spin this as a cynical politicking by those who are actually blocking discussion on it.

“Far from running scared of the engagement with the public, I’ve been inundated with messages of support and concern about this proposal since voicing intentions to challenge the plans. I’d like to thank all the parent council chairs and individual parents for getting in touch with their councillors to make their views known.

“The campaign to ensure these proposals are treated with the due process and respect they deserve will now move into a new phase but parents should be in no doubt that I and others will continue to fight to ensure their voices are heard in the meaningful way they deserve.”

The Labour group leader, Councillor Anne Hannah, said she had wanted the issue to be discussed by the education executive “to make sure the consultation asks all the relevant questions”.

She said: “Falkirk Labour is committed to full and transparent consultation with parents, staff and pupils. Parent, teacher, religious and pupil representatives attend the ECYP executive and could have brought useful insight to the development of the consultation.

“The 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.”

She is also concerned that Falkirk pupils will lose out if their class time is cut by ten per cent, as is being suggested.

“Parents, staff and pupils need to be given full information, and be given the opportunity to weigh up all the options. It is vital that the breadth and diversity of public opinion is heard on this.”

The Non-Aligned Independent Group also criticised the SNP for blocking the discussion.

Councillor Brian McCabe said: “This wasn’t even about discussing the merits of the proposals to shorten the school week. This was only about allowing background information to be collected and presented to the ECYP executive before it went out for public consultation.

“This SNP administration are so scared of engaging with our communities, they wouldn’t even allow for talks about talks. They really have to go.”