SCHOOLS have been “short changed” by over £1 billion under the SNP, Labour claimed yesterday, as it opened a fresh line of attack in May’s local elections.
Labour education spokesman Iain Gray issued a party analysis which said real-term spending per pupil had fall by £489 in primaries and by £152 in secondaries since 2010.
If spending per pupil was still at 2010/11 levels, primaries would have received £726m more than they have to date, and secondaries would be £308m better off in total, he said.
With councils spending around 40 per cent of their budgets on education, all opposition parties are putting the SNP’s 10-year record on schools under the spotlight before the May 4 poll.
Labour has repeatedly criticised the Government for failing to increase income tax using its new powers in order to raise money for schools and other public services.
However ministers insist schools are being properly funded, and point to an extra £120m going directly to headteachers to help close the attainment gap between rich and poor pupils.
Mr Gray said: “Under the SNP, Scottish schools have missed out on more than £1 billion of investment – that’s some way to treat a so-called ‘priority’ for the government.
“The SNP have never understood that failure to invest in education is a failure to invest in our greatest resource – our young people.
“For Scotland’s economy to thrive we have to give our young people the skills they need to compete for the jobs of the future. We should be investing more in our young people, not less.
“Rather than continue to agitate for a divisive second referendum on independence, the SNP should focus on the job of governing.”
The Scottish Government responded by issuing its own figures, which covered a different timeframe and referred to cash increases, rather than being adjusted for inflation.
A spokesperson said: “The average spending per pupil has actually increased by more than ten per cent for both primary and secondary pupils since 2006-07 with almost £500 more per primary pupil and at least £800 more per secondary pupil being spent in 2015-16.”
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