Edinburgh schools: Plans to axe classroom assistants and pupil support teachers

Education could be among the areas worst affected with proposed cutbacks into the millions, whilst funding for people with disabilities and difficulties with speech also face being chopped.

However, council chiefs have failed to set a balanced budget. An overspend of £3.7 million remains and officials have warned councillors that “further proposals to increase income or reduce expenditure therefore require to be identified as a matter of urgency.”

And their challenges will not end there – assuming all recommended savings and efficiencies are made the council will still need to find an additional £39.5 million to balance the books next year and £91.8 million by 2026/27.

A report setting out potential spending said £4 million could be raised to plug the gap this year if council tax was increased by 4.2 per cent instead of 3 per cent. Councillors may be reluctant to choose this route amid the cost of living crisis.

They will be asked to approve £2.4 million cuts to teaching assistant posts which were created to “provide additional support during the pandemic”.

The report said they can “now be removed without impacting on core teaching activities”.

It added: “While this proposal does propose a reduction in transition teacher numbers, the number of teachers required will continue to increase as a result of rising rolls.”