Edinburgh parents launch petition against proposed cuts to services for pupils with additional support needs

City of Edinburgh Council officials have proposed a £4 million cut from its “inclusion” spending, axing specialist school staff as well as teaching posts.

The cuts would include the removal of a central Additional Support for Learning (ASL) service, the removal of hospital education services, a restructuring of the educational psychology department, and add more duties to PSA job descriptions, including the expectation that they will have to deal with physical violence as standard.

The proposals come while an estimated 43 per cent of primary pupils and 50 per cent of secondary pupils in the city now have ASN.

And those behind a petition against the proposals say that all Edinburgh pupils will be affected if the cut goes ahead, due to a knock-on effect to teachers and school staff needing extra time to deal with ASN pupils.

The Stop Inclusion Cuts online petition was set up by Juliana Capes on Sunday evening, and has already had more than 3,000 signatures.

One concerned parent told the Evening News about the potential impact the proposed cuts would have.

Gary Staerck, 44, from Gilmerton revealed how his family benefited from ASN support for his nine-year-old daughter Amelia who is autistic. Her twin sister Scarlet also has access to support for learning at school.

He said: “Last year when Amelia came home from school every day she would just lose it, explode, after bottling up her anxieties all day at school.

“She then got access to the emotional regulation programme for six weeks and what a huge difference it made to her, helping her understand what is going on in her head.

“It was quite a traumatic time for her, but it showed that services like this really help and make a difference.

Gilmerton man Gary Staerck, 44, pictured with two of his three daughters, Scarlet and her twin Amelia, both 9, who each benefit from school ASN services. | Submitted

“It just leads me to think that the new proposed individual learning community will not have the same affect compared to the current 23 learning communities across the city.

“Without the service I don’t think my daughter would have overcome the emotional problems she had at school last year. She still has issues but is now much better.

“If it’s not broken why try to fix it? I can’t understand why they would cut this service.”

Gary is also calling on people to sign the petition against the proposed cuts.

He said: “This is not just going to affect ASN children, it’s going to affect teachers, support staff and eventually every child in the education system, as teachers and PSAs are already stretched as it is.

“I urge everybody to sign and share the petition and write to their councillors to oppose the proposed cuts.

“We as parents of ASN children are all up in arms as we are all anxious about what happens if the cuts go ahead. And, as I say, the cuts would have a knock-on impact to all school pupils, so all parents should sign the petition.”

Posting the online petition, Juliana said: “These proposed cuts will affect all families across Edinburgh, not only ones whose children access ASN services, but all children as demand on teaching staff will be much higher, adding pressure to an already overstretched model.”

Calling on people to sign the petition, she added: “We desperately need your help. Please raise your voice and make Edinburgh Council look again at their priorities and stop trying to balance their books on the backs of the most vulnerable.

“A cut in services may save the council money in the short-term but in the long-term it will have a disastrous impact on all children’s wellbeing, attainment, and teacher retention, as well as adding to future pressure on other services.”

Councillor Joan Griffiths, Convener for Education, Children and Families at the City of Edinburgh Council, said: “The Edinburgh Learns for Life goal is to provide inclusive, equitable, valuable learning opportunities for everyone, and for this to be developed as part of local communities, where those making decisions on behalf of children are closest to them.

“This vision has been developing in our learning communities since 2021 and is now showing real dividends, in terms of pupil outcomes. We have carefully aligned national expectations on empowerment with local objectives on eradicating poverty and creating the best places to live and work. Prior to launching this phase of Edinburgh Learns for Life, we took part in a Collaborative Review, and then extensive consultation. 

“The result is our proposal for children to attend their local schools, and receive specialist support there, if needed.

“We accept that managing change can be challenging for everyone involved, and we are committed to working with everyone to reassure and support as we move through this next, exciting phase of development. 

“There’s no escaping, however, the fact that the lack of funding coming from the Scottish Government means that our officers have to provide elected members with the least worst options in terms of setting the inclusion budget in the medium term. Whatever options we decide to take we will always try to do what is best for our children and young people.

"Our saving proposals are at an early stage of development and will require further work and wider consultation before they are progressed to budget decision in February 2025. Officers have put forward these budget saving proposals for this year that have come from suggestions across the whole directorate, including from schools. 

“We acknowledge that the measures will impact on staffing. However, our no compulsory redundancy policy remains in place and changes would be managed in accordance with the council’s existing managing change and redeployment policies. For example, the changes within the quality team outlined in the report sees a reduction of two posts that are already vacant.

“Where teacher numbers are affected, these savings will be achieved by removing additional provision and will not impact on front line pupil or teacher ratios. 

"Education, children and families have been protected for a lot of years, and even last year the savings that came forward from officers weren’t agreed by the Council. No one wants to be where we are, and we’ll need to start making hard decisions next year. The reality is that if we don't take them we have to think where else savings will come from.”