Aberdeen budget: Government to make law against cutting teaching hours as council threatens shock move

By Ben Hendry

February 25 2023, 6:00 am

A threat to reduce teaching hours as part of the Aberdeen council budget has been rebuked by the Scottish Government. Image: Michael McCosh/PA

Aberdeen City Council’s threat to cut teaching hours could have been hobbled before a vote even takes place on the controversial idea.

Councillors will meet on Wednesday to decide the body’s financial position for the year ahead.

A slew of measures have been proposed to help balance the books, with a £46.6 million black hole facing the authority.

One measure that councillors are being asked to consider is reducing the number of teaching hours every week from 25 to 22.5.

Finance chiefs say the radical move would free up £495,000.

Chief finance officer Jonathan Belford spelled out the toll welcoming Ukrainian refugees and overseas students (and their families) is taking on Aberdeen City Council. Image: Scott Baxter/DC Thomson. — Chief finance officer Jonathan Belford says the need to save money has never been more pressing. Image: Scott Baxter/DC Thomson

Councils to face ‘legal duty’ to protect teaching hours

But such a move would put the SNP-led authority on a collision course with Holyrood head-honchos.

And the Scottish Government has quickly moved to kibosh the proposed saving.

Education secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville told The P&J she was “committed to protecting” the 25-hour minimum set at Holyrood in 2016.

And she confirmed that a new “legal duty” will be placed on councils to ensure that limit is maintained, while those flouting the rules could face financial sanctions.

The senior SNP figure said: “I am committed to protecting the length of the school week and recruiting more teachers.

“A new legal duty will be placed on councils to ensure they provide a minimum number of learning hours.

“We will provide £145.5 million in next year’s budget to protect increased teacher numbers and support staff.

“Where this is not being delivered by a local authority, we will withhold or recoup funding which has been given for this purpose.”

Do you think the council should be allowed to cut teaching hours to save money? Let us know in our comments section below

Why did Aberdeen City Council officials suggest teaching hours cut?

The idea of reducing the school week by two-and-a-half hours is just one of many cuts that councillors will debate on Wednesday.

It’s a notion that has been gaining traction as local authorities across Scotland turn to increasingly drastic measures to balance the books.

Some Central Belt councils already close schools early on a Friday, but make up the 25 hours across the week.

Andrea Bradley, general secretary for the EIS union, last month told the BBC that any cuts to the pupil week would “have a serious detrimental impact on young people’s education”.

You can read more about the raft of measures proposed for city schools here.