Education Cuts Consultation Document

East Lothian Council have issued a consultation document “You Pay… Now Have Your Say“.  This outlines their intention to cut Education’s share of the Council budget over the next 3 years from 41.3% to 39.8%.

Comments are invited from the public which can emailed to David Spilsbury or sent to him at:

East Lothian Council
John Muir House
Haddington
EH41 3HA

Obviously it is very important we all respond to this.  The proposed cuts will have a very negative effect on our children’s education.

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Consultation Period is Now Closed

A copy of the comments submitted online by the public up to the 19th of December can be read by clicking here.

HAGS Meeting with Councilors

Parents from the HAGS group met with Provost Richardson and Councillor Trotter last night to discuss their proposed cuts to the Education budget, as detailed in their consultation document. The following are notes of the meeting.

Meeting with local councillors on Wednesday 12th November 2008 at 7.30pm

Present : Debbie Strachan – Haddington Infants PC
Liz Woodsend     – Kings Meadow PC
Ian Smith            -  Kings Meadow & Knox PC
Kevin Robertson – Knox PC
Donald Smith      – Haddington Infants
Cllr Sheena Richardson
Cllr Tom Trotter

Apologies: Fiona Mackenzie – Knox PC

Ian Smith outlined parents’ concerns regarding the proposed continuing reduction in the share of overall Council budget to be spent on Education Department and the negative impact on children’s education this would have. In doing so he referred to various Scottish Government, COSLA and East Lothian Council documents emphasising the importance of education and policy commitments contained therein.

Both Councillors emphasised the administration’s commitment to a genuine willingness to listen and react to submissions to the consultation process. They also outlined the overall funding context in which the Council had to make budget decisions.

A full and frank discussion then took place.

It was agreed that parents’ representatives wished to see any and all ‘efficiency savings’ made within the Education department to be retained for spending on schools and that the priority must be the protection of teaching and teaching support staff posts. Ideally there should be an increase in the overall share of the Council budget being spent on schools to accommodate the projected rise in school roll, but at the very least there should be no further decreases in the share.

Both Councillors undertook to take our message back to the Council and to ensure that these sentiments were duly considered when the final budget making decisions were made.

KRobertson 12/11

HAGS Meeting Action Items – 22-Sep_2008

Action Points
Haddington Action Group for Schools (hags), meeting on Monday September 22 2008 at Knox Academy

Present
Jan Ramakers, Chair (JM)
F Mackenzie ( Secretary?)
Parent representative’s (PR)

Introduction
JR welcomed everyone to the meeting and noted that no formal minutes will be prepared. Invitations to the meeting had been sent to Iain Gray MSP, Provost Richardson, Don Ledingham, Acting Head of Education , East Lothian Council, Councillor Tom Trotter, Councillor Ludvic Broun-Lindsay and Richard Parker. Rather a series of action points that follow agenda items and allow HAGS work to continue will be prepared.

Apologies.
Apologies were received from;

Iain Gray , MSP
Don Ledingham, Acting Head of Education, East Lothian Council.
Councillor Tom Trotter,
Councillor Ludvic Broun-Lindsay

Action Points from last meeting
A number of outstanding action points were noted;

Don Ledingham to meet HAGS to discuss roll capping at Knox Academy, a meeting has now been set up on the 20 October 2008.

HAGS representatives to take up Provost Richardsons offer of a meeting.

A copy of the Primary School – Devolved School Management Policy, March 2007 has been provided. Don Ledingham has advised this policy document contains information on how the policy for predictable needs budget dovetails to the Council requirement to reduce spending.

New action points from meeting

• Meeting between HAGS and Iain Gray MSP to be set up.
• In addition to meeting Provost Richardson, meeting with local Councillors to be set up.
• Appeal to Information Commissioner under Freedom of Information on request for information from East Lothian Council covering roll capping to be lodged.
• Don Ledingham to confirm how the Single Outcome Agreement target to reduce class sizes to a maximum of 18 pupils will be achieved.
• HAGS noted a review of Concordant with COSLA is scheduled for November/December and to seek copy of review.
• HAGS noted a ‘blog’ has been set up ( elhags.wordpress.com)
• HAGS to request information from East Lothian Council on overall spending profile of council for last four years including percentage of overall spending going on education?
• HAGS to continue evidence gathering and engaging with other Parent School Partnerships.

Next Meeting: 30th October 2008

ENDS

Next HAGS Meeting – 22-September-2008

The next meeting of HAGS is scheduled for the 22nd of September.

HAGS Meeting Action Items – 16-June-2008

Action Points

Haddington Action Group for Schools (HAGS)

On Monday June 16 2008 at 7:00 PM in Haddington Rugby Club

Present:

Jan Ramakers, Chair (JR)
Fiona Mackenzie (Secretary, KAPSP) FM
Mr Iain Gray, MSP (IG)
Mr Don Ledingham , Acting Director of Education, ELC, (DL)
Parent representatives (PR)

Introduction

1.    JR introduced IG and DL and thanked them for attending this first HAGS meeting. In order to allow a free and frank discussion, it was agreed no formal minutes would be taken. Rather a series of action points flowing from the discussions will be prepared, actioned as appropriate and any outcome fed back to future meetings.

2.     An agenda had been prepared and was followed during the course of the meeting to provide structure to the meeting

Action Points

3.    The following action points were agreed;

• HAGS to ask the Council to explain where efficiency savings are being made.

• DL to provide information on the ‘formula’ for composite classes.- post meeting note ; there is no formula for composite classes – the maximum class size for a composite class is 25

• DL to advise if HAGS representatives can formally feed into the strategic budget group that determines spending priorities for ELC.

• DL to advise on backdrop to the class size formula. – Post meeting note, DL to send a copy of the Primary Devolved School Management Policy

• DL to meet FM to discuss roll capping at KA.

• DL to advise how the formula for predictable needs budget dovetails to the councils requirements to reduce spending.- post meeting note, the DSM policy has this information

• DL to advise, given tight financial settlement from Central Government, how ELC will meet the Education commitments within the draft single outcome agreement, including class sizes. (Note final SOA to be published quite soon and there may revisions to draft document) –post meeting note – the SOA states –Work with available resources to deliver the Scottish Government’s pledge to reduce class sizes in Primary 1,2 and 3 to a maximum of 18 pupils, beginning in June 2008.

• DL to consider if HAGS representatives involvement in the Community Planning process whereby the Local Council consult with key stakeholders – fire, police etc to draft the SOA – is possible.

• HAGS to consider drafting a Parliamentary petition.

• HAGS to propose three meeting dates to allow Councillors to attend, 22, 23, 24 September mooted.

• HAGS delegation to take up Provost Richardson’s offer of a meeting.

• HAGS representatives to cascade action points to PSP members and parents.

HAGS Secretariat
June 20 2008.

HAGS Meeting Agenda for the 16th June 2008

Agenda

Meeting    First combined meeting of Parent School Partnership members of Haddington schools
Venue    Haddington Rugby Club
Date    Monday 16 June 2008 at 7.00 pm

1.    Introduction
2.    Backdrop to the meeting

If members of the Press are present they will be asked to leave at this point

3.    Evidence from each parent school partnership – what is happening at your school?
4.    Evidence from Councillors – what are you going to do about it
5.    Policy commitments, Central and Local Government – the Concordat is the ‘marriage certificate’
6.    Roll capping at Knox Academy – issues.
7.    Looking forward
a.    Identify key priority (on behalf of the parents to work in partnership with the schools, Council and elected officials as we go forward into the next academic year)
b.    Rename group
c.    Frequency of meetings
d.    Composition of Chair, secretary, general organisation
e.    Agree communication strategy – how do we let the parents know what we are doing
f.    Next meeting in 3 months, open meeting?
g.    Council to agree to removal of roll cap re. Knox Academy.
8.    Thanks.

I would like to propose that no minutes are taken during this meeting for the benefit of removing any restrictions those might create for anyone present. Instead of that we’ll agree on a list of action points that result from the discussions.

Jan Ramakers

HAGS Press Release – 2-June-2008

Iain Gray at the Festival Cafe, Haddington

PRESS RELEASE

Little did Iain Gray expect that he would have to help out when he accepted an invitation to lunch last Monday in the Haddington Corn Exchange. Kings Meadow Primary School were hosting the Festival Café and on arrival Mr Gray rolled up his sleeves and helped with the lunches. Mr Gray was interviewed by P6 school pupil, Lauren Mackenzie who asked him ‘ “What’s it like being an MSP?”. Afterwards Lauren said, “It was really interesting to meet Mr Gray at our Festival Café and I was surprised to see our local MSP helping out”.

Mr Gray had been invited to lunch as part of the concerns raised by parents in the area over school budget cuts. All local schools are facing cuts this year that can partly be absorbed through the non-replacement of retiring teachers but the reduction in funding also means that all the schools in East Lothian are facing further staff reductions.

Mr Gray met parents, pupils and teachers as he sat having lunch. One local parent, Mr Ian Smith who is a member of the Knox Academy Parent School Partnership said , “It was encouraging to meet Mr Gray at the School Café which shows parents that he is engaging this issue. We are all concerned and actually quite worried about what the Council are doing. Its bad enough this year with classes for the p1-p3’s being well in excess of the Council’s agreement to reduce class sizes. I don’t know what we are going to do next year when further and larger cuts will be made. We have set up a meeting on Monday 16th June with the five local Parent School Partnerships to which we will invite Mr Gray and the local councilors to attend. It is an important meeting and the Parent School Partnerships will report back to the parents they represent with the outcome. I would encourage all parents in the area to communicate their concerns to their school partnership before this meeting on the 16th. ”

After lunch Mr Gray said, “”I have been contacted by a growing number of Haddington parents concerned by the introduction of composite classes and by increases in class sizes next year. It was certainly worrying those I met at the Kings Meadow Festival cafe. Many of them have heard government claims that class sizes in P1,2 and 3 are being reduced, but their experience is the opposite. I do not think East Lothian Council have been given the resources from government they would need to make those class size reductions, and that situation could be worse next year and the year after. I have argued this repeatedly in Parliament and will continue to do so. Parents also have concerns about the impact of the separate matter of “efficiency” savings required in our local schools.”

Ends.