Maintaining teacher numbers could lead to ‘deeper cuts’ elsewhere, councils warn

Maintaining teacher numbers at the “arbitrary level” set by the Scottish Government could lead to “deeper cuts” in key local services, and even mean some authorities may not be able to freeze council tax, ministers have been warned.

Leaders of local government body Cosla also fear spending on education may have to be cut without additional funding.

Council leaders went on to say that while the Scottish Government is providing them with £145.5 million in 2024-25 to maintain teacher numbers, this cash would only cover a “very small proportion” of the teachers’ wage bill.

In a briefing paper sent out to MSPs ahead of stage two of the Scottish budget on Tuesday, it warned forcing councils to use this funding to maintain teacher numbers at the current level of about 54,000 could mean authorities cutting funding for other areas, such as social work, libraries or youth services.

With the Scottish Government also pressing for a freeze in council tax across Scotland in 2024-25, Cosla warned some authorities may not be able to do this if they have to use their share of the £145.5 million on teaching staff.

A paper sent to MSPs stated: “The requirement to maintain teacher numbers at an arbitrary level may mean some councils who planned to accept the funding offered for a council tax freeze can no longer do so, as they now need to raise revenue to pay for additional teachers.

“Ringfencing spending on school staff will force even deeper cuts on services like social work support, early intervention services, cultural services, youth work and libraries, all of which are vital to supporting children and young people.”

The concerns come as local authorities across Scotland are in the process of setting their budgets for next year.

Heightened tensions with the Scottish Government – which provides the bulk of councils’ cash – have led Cosla to declare a “fundamental position of dispute” with Holyrood ministers.

It now insists “local government needs additional funding, not more restrictions, to protect services and support children and young people to achieve the best possible outcomes”.

While ministers insist they have provided councils with a “fair” settlement in a “challenging” budget for 2024-25, Cosla leaders say their core budgets are being cut by £63 million.

Likewise, the local authority body insisted the council tax freeze is not being fully funded by the Scottish Government, although ministers say the £147 million being offered is the equivalent of a 5% increase in the levy.

Finance Secretary and Deputy First Minister Shona Robison has already made clear councils will not receive their share of the almost £300 million funding earmarked for freezing council tax and maintaining teacher numbers if they fail to comply with ministers’ expectations.

Cosla, however, maintains “the council tax freeze funding is only worth the equivalent of a 2.8% rise – not enough to fund vital local services”.

Regarding the money for teacher numbers, the local government body said this accounts for just less than 4% of the funding needed for teachers.

With councils spending around 50% of their budget on education, and the wage bill for teachers alone amounting to almost £3.3 billion, Cosla said that “96% of teachers are funded from core local government budgets, which have seen a real-terms reduction over the last 10 years”.

While ministers insist teacher numbers should be maintained, pupil numbers across Scotland have been falling – with Cosla noting there has been a drop in student numbers of almost 8,000 over the last decade.

While councils have so far protected education services when setting their budgets, Cosla went on to warn this may no longer be possible.

The paper said: “Councils have protected and invested in education as much as possible whilst other services have taken the hit. ”

After “several years of extremely high inflation, which has had to be absorbed by councils”, Cosla says the current budget settlement “means it has reached the point where this is increasingly untenable and councillors must now consider education taking a proportion of this year’s cut”.

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “The Scottish budget for next year makes available record funding for councils of over £14 billion.

“Councils have statutory obligations in respect of education and have a shared commitment with the Scottish Government to deliver the best outcomes for people and communities under the Verity House Agreement.

“The Scottish Government is determined to close the poverty-related attainment gap and ministers are clear that this will not be achieved by councils employing fewer teachers in our schools. That is why we are providing local authorities with £145.5 million to protect teacher numbers.”