Parents were left “disgusted” at Aberdeenshire Council’s decision today to cut speech and language therapy support from schools.
The local authority cut all funding for the service in schools and nurseries at today’s budget meeting.
This means kids needing to see a speech and language therapist will need to do so through the NHS, rather than at school.
The move will save the council £200,000 over the next financial year.
Mums and dads we’ve spoken to say they fear the cuts will have a severely detrimental effect on “extremely vulnerable young people”.
Glenn Carter, head of the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists (RCSLT) in Scotland, had previously warned the council that the cuts would “undo decades of progress”.
At the budget meeting today, Aberdeenshire Council leader Gillian Owen moved to deny Mr Carter the chance to address the chamber.
Aberdeenshire Council says it ‘can only spend the money we have’
She said: “There were detailed assessments for every single saving.
“Not to diminish what they have to say, but decisions need to be made today for the wider benefit of all of our residents.”
Although the SNP opposition group would later fight against the cut, they backed Mrs Owen’s decision not to allow Mr Carter to argue his case at the meeting.
Defending the decision to cut the speech and language therapy service from Aberdeenshire schools, Mrs Owen said: “Are we subsidising services we can no longer afford?
“We can only spend the money that we have, there are no easy solutions here.”
SNP opposition group leader Gwyneth Petrie tabled a rival budget that would retain spending on the service, but it was outvoted by 38 votes to 23.
Aberdeenshire parents say council doesn’t grasp full impact of removing speech and language therapy from schools
The P&J met with parents from Spikin Autism and More, a peer support group for families affected by autism and additional support needs (ASN), in Inverurie.
They told us of their anger at the lack of proper consultation, and their sense that the council doesn’t grasp the wider impact such decisions will have.
The group has started a petition to reverse the council’s decision.
Rachel Hay said: “My son’s going up to the academy this year, he needs support.
“He won’t cope, he’ll be excluded. They’re setting these kids up to fail.
“He’s only just gotten that confidence to speak to people and tell them what he needs, and he got that confidence through the speech therapist.
“He’s had the comfort of a speech therapist sat next to him saying ‘it’s okay, say what you mean and we’ll figure it out.’
“Without that, he’ll go back into himself and behave inappropriately and violently and kick off.
“He also has difficulty retaining information, but him getting speech and language therapy every week – at the point of need – means he’s keeping it in.
“As much as we know our kids, we don’t know how to do speech therapy with them. And the teachers don’t know either.”
Knock-on effects of speech and language therapy cuts ‘could be catastrophic’
She added: “The council aren’t going to save any money on this. At the end of the day, it’s going to cost them more.
“There’s going to be more pupil burn-out, there’s going to be more kids doing things they shouldn’t.
“It’ll wreck lives. People might say ‘you’re overreacting, it’s only speech’, but it’s absolutely crucial.”
Lisa Moir was equally scathing in her views, warning that there could be dark days ahead for families affected by speech and language issues.
“The knock-on effect from cuts such as these could be catastrophic in the long run.
“The pressures put upon our schools are already beyond what they should be without denying, withdrawing and restricting more services.
“I understand that the council are in debt but there needs to be another way for them to save money rather than the removal of such vital services.”
Parents predict increase in exclusions, home schooling, and demand on social services
She added: “It really worries me that no consideration has been given to the safeguarding element for kids with communication barriers, things like abuse and bullying.
“They’re already extremely vulnerable young people. A lot of that’s going to be missed.
“Speech and language therapists give teachers the tools to be able to pick up on those things. Indeed that was the case for my son.
“For the generations still to come, I’m really concerned. Even for our kids, there’s a lot of worry.
“I can see exclusions – which go on their record – going up, home schooling going up, demand on social services going up, and our kids having issues with employment.”
‘It’s like councillors don’t have any lived experience’
Aileen Keith was angry at what she sees as a lack of transparency from Aberdeenshire Council.
She said: “The most annoying thing is that they’ve hidden this in amongst everything else, so nobody can kick off until two days before when it’s too late, it’s already been decided.
“It’s like the councillors don’t have any lived experience.
“They’ve saved their money, they’ve ticked their box. But what are these kids going to do? What are their families going to do?
“The council don’t understand the impact decisions like this are going to have – and for generations to come.”
Dara Burr added: “The kids are already messed up from Covid. In a couple of years’ time, without speech and language therapists in schools, they’ll be in an even bigger mess.
“It’s going to cost the council more money in the long-term. And then there’ll be the knock-on effect on the NHS.”
‘For parents like us, the scaffolding is being removed’
Pamela Phipps said the speech and language therapy had been “absolutely invaluable” for her son, who is severely dyslexic.
“It’s just disgusting that they’re taking it away,” she said.
“For parents like us, the scaffolding is being removed.
“Having those therapists in schools is such a valuable resource that it cannot really be measured.
“Now it’s been removed, just watch the exclusions and everything go up.”
The P&J also heard from Belhelvie mum Debbie McMurray. Her six-year-old son Brodie, a P1 pupil at Balmedie School, is autistic and non-verbal.
“There are so many kids with additional needs in mainstream schools now and I feel schools are hugely under-supported,” said Debbie.
“So they are very much reliant on support from the likes of speech and language therapists.
“They’ve been very important for a kid like Brodie. As a family we’ve relied on them really heavily.”
Speech and language therapy cuts ‘very, very worrying’
She called the cuts “very, very worrying.”
“Because Brodie’s in a mainstream school, both he and the school rely on that support coming in.
“The school can’t continue to meet demand if they’re not given that external support.
“Without it, I worry the teachers will become even more overwhelmed.”
She added: “Just in the last year, Brodie has started using words. It’s amazing for us just to hear him say ‘hello’ and say names.
“But he’s making that progress because of all the support he’s getting in school.
“My concern is that he gets left behind when that’s taken away.
“There are plenty of kids locally and parents I know who are reliant on that service to help them.”
Read more on today’s Aberdeenshire Council budget meeting:
11th hour U-turn on council tax cash leaves Aberdeenshire leaders shocked by surprise £3m
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