SNP and Green councillors are under pressure to publish the evidence behind a claim that cuts to a Glasgow-wide mentoring scheme will not impact on vulnerable pupils.
The Glasgow City Parents Group (GCPG), which represents parent councils from across the city, has demanded that material behind the claim is made public in advance of tomorrow’s full-council vote. Their chair accused politicians of being “oblivious to the impacts of their actions.”
Yesterday, The Herald revealed that SNP and Green councillors will support proposals to cut core staffing levels for the “transformational” MCR Pathways programme by 50%. The scheme, which links vulnerable and at-risk young people with an adult mentor, has been credited with boosting attendance and attainment rates and helping more young people into employment, education or training after leaving school.
Both SNP and Green groups at Glasgow City Council are planning to vote for the cuts despite admitting that no Equality Impact Assessment has yet been carried out. Schools have also been told to use anti-poverty funding from the Scottish Government if they wish to mitigate the cuts.
In response to our reporting, Glasgow Greens education spokesperson Blair Anderson claimed that the plans “will ensure that there is no reduction in the number of children receiving that one-to-one mentoring support.”
However, no evidence for this assertion was provided, and councillors are now facing demands to make all relevant material public before the issue is voted on at a full-council session on Thursday this week. The Herald understands that around 2,000 pupils per year have been benefitting from the scheme, but documents published so far make no mention of the number of mentoring places that will be available under the new, reduced model.
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Leanne McGuire, chair of the GCPG, told The Herald councillors must publish whatever evidence they hold regarding the impact of their planned cuts:
“As an MCR mentor myself for several years, I find it difficult to believe that this reduction in staffing would not impact service delivery or the young people supported through the service.
“We are beginning to see a pattern here with decisions that councillors appear to be oblivious to the impacts of their actions, and that is concerning
“In the role of a councillor, it is your duty to represent your constituents. Making decisions that impact those constituents, particularly vulnerable young people, without being fully informed of the consequences before implementing these decisions is inexcusable. It does not give the impression that councillors are being considerate in their decision-making process, and it seems to be all about the monetary value.
“We demand that councillors share the evidence behind their claim that mentoring cuts won't affect the young people supported by MCR Pathways.”
The Herald approached the SNP, the Greens and Glasgow City Council to confirm if such evidence exists and to ask if it would be published.
A spokesman for Glasgow City Council said: “The options have been developed in consultation with schools and seek to reflect their priorities, across all pathway support for young people – as well as changes that have taken place in schools since the initial introduction of the scheme.”
The SNP and Greens did not respond.
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