Labour demands details of Government plans to maintain teacher numbers

Scottish Labour has called for clarity on what the Government plans to do to maintain teacher numbers.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has confirmed that Education Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville will lay out plans which would effectively block councils from cutting teacher numbers in an attempt to save money.

The announcement came in response to reports that Glasgow City Council officials had drawn up speculative plans to cut 800 teacher posts.

No Government action to protect teacher numbers has been announced, but Ms Somerville and Deputy First Minister John Swinney met with local authority leaders this week to discuss the issue.

The talks were detailed in a Government press release, along with the assertion that “next steps will be set out to Parliament by the Education Secretary in the coming days”.

Scottish Labour education spokesman Michael Marra said: “Scotland’s councils are staring down the barrel at savage cuts that could lead to hundreds of lost teaching jobs.

“Labour has been warning for weeks that this is where things were headed.

“The SNP’s last minute panic response was a press release promising action. A week on, councils are still in the dark with crucial budgets now in chaos.

“The situation could not be more urgent, but all the SNP Government has done is offer vague threats with none of the vital cash needed to rescue the situation.

“Council finances are in chaos but this SNP Government is missing in action.

“If these SNP cuts are allowed to go ahead, we risk failing thousands of Scottish students and leaving hundreds of hardworking teachers high and dry.

“Education was supposedly a priority for the SNP – now it is clearly no more than an afterthought. The level of incompetence from SNP ministers is breath-taking.”