NORTH Lanarkshire Council leader Councillor Jim Logue, avoids the central facts on misuse of pupil equity funding (PEF) by North Lanarkshire Council (Letters, March 14). The council budget savings for 2017-18 include £319,000 on breakfast clubs and £2,780,000 on classroom assistants. For both these items the budget states: “It is proposed to allow head teachers, either individually or collectively, to consider the continuation or enhancement of existing breakfast club provision under the flexibilities afforded under the pupil equity fund.” Ditto for classroom assistants. And how, actually, was “collective” head teacher action organised and carried out?
In other words, North Lanarkshire’s approved budget openly proposes to break the Scottish Government’s rule that PEF is purely additional funding. The council, whose area covers Scotland’s second-most deprived community, is shamelessly attempting to cream off Scottish Government cash intended to directly benefit the education of the most vulnerable pupils in our schools.
I note Councillor Logue complains of “anonymous sources”. Yet in the same edition of your newspaper North Lanarkshire Council is reported to be handing over a file on millions of pounds worth of corruption in the council to the police (“Corruption inquiry prompts council contracts shake-up”, The Herald, March 14). This whole investigation began thanks to an anonymous letter, dated April, 2016,as this week’s committee agenda states.
Openness in North Lanarkshire Council has long been discouraged by the fact that the council’s scrutiny panel has always been in the hands of the ruling Labour Group – in complete defiance of the Accounts Commission’s recommendation that scrutiny panels should always be in the hands of the opposition group on all Scottish Councils. That unhealthy situation created a 20-year climate of fear and bullying for any would-be whistle- blowers in North Lanarkshire. Councillor Logue has very recently reversed his own position and rectified this situation – but only against a background of the crumbling Labour majority on the council.
Councillor Tom Johnston,
Depute Leader, SNP Group,
North Lanarkshire Council, 5 Burn Viiew, Cumbernauld.
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