Moray Labour and Independent Councillors Fail Teachers Test in Budget

SNP Opposition Leader in Moray Council, Cllr Pearl Paul, today [Thursday] proposed an amendment to the Independent/Labour budget. The amendment being that Principal Teacher posts should be reinstated in Moray primary schools with nurseries attached and primary schools with over 150 pupils.

In a close vote the amendment was defeated by 13 votes to 12 with the SNP critical of the Council’s Independent and Labour Councillors for missing the opportunity to take immediate action that would help address significant pressures in primary schools and improve teacher career prospects and by doing so helping to address the urgent recruitment issue facing Moray.

Speaking after the vote SNP Group Leader Councillor Paul said:

“The SNP opposed the removal of Principal Teachers 2 years ago and the concerns that we raised at the time have been borne out. At this year’s budget we put forward a reasoned and evidenced argument on the reintroduction of these posts and the Council’s Tory Convener, Independents and Labour have failed the teachers test and chose to sit on their hands.

“What is very clear to the SNP Group is that leadership capacity in schools is compromised by the reduced support that Headteachers have with no Principal Teachers to ease the pressure, in addition recruitment is not helped by a poor career structure in Moray.

“The Administration and the Opposition Labour Group had a clear opportunity and they passed it up.”

SNP Opposition Education Spokesperson Cllr Mike Shand said:

“I regularly speak to parents, teachers and other education professionals and the view is very strongly that the removal of Principal Teachers was a big mistake and this was backed up by reports from Council officers just last week. That is what we said at the time and the negative impact of this type of change is also clearly backed up by various independent studies.

“This was an opportunity to act decisively, effectively and, most importantly, without delay, but Labour and the Independents failed that test.”

Tory / Independent Budget Failing Moray's Children

COUNCIL ADMINISTRATION FAILED TO DEAL WITH MANAGEMENT STRUCTURE
The SNP Opposition Group in The Moray Council says that the budget pushed through by Independent and Tory Councillors fails Moray’s young people.

SNP Spokesperson on Children and Young People Councillor Mike Shand warned against the education cuts in the recent budget, which was opposed by Scottish National Party councillors in Moray. Since the budget he has further discussed his concerns with teachers and parents who have grave concerns about the impact on the ability of Moray’s Schools to deliver Curriculum for Excellence.

Meanwhile the SNP Opposition Leader, Cllr Pearl Paul, says she is appalled by the lack of awareness of the Independents and Tories in the Council’s Administration of the impact of their decisions and for failing to address the shared services agenda, which has the potential to generate substantial savings that wouldn’t be from frontline services.

Commenting on the impact of the education cuts Cllr Mike Shand said:

Ward 6

Elgin City North

“The question I asked of the Independents and Tories during the budget debate was what is the reasoning behind these cuts? What is their assessment of the impact of these decisions?

“Everyone I have spoken to about the education cuts have confirmed my worst fears, that the removal of principal teachers and classroom assistants will, in the words of a highly respected and experienced teacher, make it ‘impossible to deliver Curriculum for Excellence’.

“In addition the removal of Principal Teachers is taking away fundamental support for children transitioning from pre-school to primary school and from primary school to high school. It also removes members of staff who have key responsibilities for delivering the ‘Getting It Right For Every Child’ [GIRFEC] framework, which underpins critical early intervention work, supporting our most disadvantaged children.

“Let’s be clear about this - Curriculum for Excellence is the only game in town and if The Moray Council cannot deliver that for the children of Moray then they will be seriously disadvantaged compared to other children in Scotland and beyond. Either the Administration didn’t understand the impact of these budget lines, which would be bad enough, or worse, that they did understand but don’t care!

“You simply cannot pay lip service to the curriculum that is the fundamental basis for every child’s education while at the same time ripping away Classroom Assistants and Principal Teachers who are critical to delivering it.”

Speaking about the alternatives SNP Opposition Leader Cllr Pearl Paul said:

Ward 1
Speyside Glenlivet

“The Independents and Tories have been speaking for years about share services as a way to save substantial sums of money and we have supported that. We have spoken to colleagues in other councils who are also supportive but what has the Administration done in all that time to take the issue forward?

“What serious discussions have they had? SNP Councillors have shown a willingness to work with other councillors on shared services. The Council must maximise savings from management structures with less impact to frontline services but the Tories and Independents have failed to bring forward any serious proposals in this area.

“Most of the Independents and Tories in the current administration have been in the previous administration during the last 5 years so there can be no excuses.

“We opposed this budget because the Administration has failed to look seriously at other alternatives that could have saved substantial sums in backroom costs and better protected critical frontline services.”

SNP Seeks Answers on Tory/Independent Budget Strategy

“WRONG CHOICES MADE IN WRONG BUDGET” - CLLR PEARL PAUL
SNP Councillors and Moray’s MP and MSP are taking forward the deep concerns of Moray’s communities following last week’s ‘outrageous’ budget from Independent and Tory Councillors.

SNP Councillors have called on Independent and Tory Councillors - the majority of whom have been in the Council’s administration for most of the last 6 years - to make clear the extent of their efforts to share services with other authorities and to take forward leisure trust proposals.

The SNP says the Independents and Tories have paid lip service to these key structural measures over recent years but have manifestly failed to act on them.

Tory Leader Ruth Davidson has also been attacked by Richard Lochhead MSP, who said she clearly had little knowledge of Moray on her recent visit where she claimed that the closure of libraries was mitigated by extending the mobile library service.

Something that is impossible when the mobile library service has been reduced to a single vehicle by successive Tory led budgets in Moray since 2007

SNP Opposition Leader Councillor Pearl Paul said:

Ward 1
Speyside Glenlivet

“What we saw last week was an outrageous budget from Independent and Tory Councillors that was cobbled together at the last minute when they realised the strength of the storm of protest from Moray’s communities.

“The SNP has encouraged the Administration to take forward a shared services agenda and from our own discussions with councillors in other authorities we know there is a willingness to do that. Most of the Independent and Tory Councillors in Moray have spent several years in the Council’s Administration and the very obvious question that they have failed to answer in any meaningful way, is what have they done to seriously take shared services forward and reduce the impact of cuts on frontline services?

“Instead we have seen a host of frontline service cuts ahead of structural changes - that is very clearly putting the cart before the horse."

Commenting on ill-informed comments by Tory Leader Ruth Davidson Cllr Paul continued:

“The Tory Leader breezed into Moray last Friday just two days after her own councillors in Moray announced the closure of seven libraries, the removal of large numbers of classroom assistants, major cuts to public transport and the wiping out of the arts budget.

“Having arrived in Moray the she then proceeded to claim - completely wrongly - that the SNP’s concern over library closures ignored ‘increased mobile library provision’. Clearly the Tories need to go back to school if they think that halving mobile libraries from 2 to 1 to cover the whole of Moray is in any way, whatsoever, an ‘increased’ provision.

“The SNP asked on budget day what the strategic thinking was behind these cuts and there has been no answer to that - almost certainly because there is no strategic thinking.”

Commenting on the response from Moray communities to the budget Richard Lochhead MSP said:

“I have been inundated with concerns from constituents aghast at the Council's botched budget that has made Moray a laughing stock throughout the country and got us in the headlines for all the wrong reasons.

“They are dismantling Moray's cultural fabric by closing libraries and wiping out in one swipe the whole arts budget.

“The out of touch Independent and Tory Councillors have targeted front line services and not dealt with structural change to find alternative savings, something they even admitted during the budget debate.

“I am seeking a meeting with Council Administration representatives to get across to them the issues that have been raised with me by many constituents and to urge them to review their flawed decision.”

Moray’s MP Angus Robertson says SNP representatives will be meeting with people across Moray to see what can be salvaged from the situation.

Angus Robertson MP said:

“SNP Councillors, Richard Lochhead MSP and I are seeking meetings with representatives of various community interests across Moray.

“The reputational damage to Moray from these crass decisions from the Independents and Tories has already gone far beyond Moray’s borders and I have personally been contacted by several prominent figures outside Moray who are incredulous at the decisions that have been made.

“The SNP at both Scottish Government and at a local level have been pushing hard for Councils to take forward major structural changes such as shared services but there is little evidence of action on this from Moray’s Tory Leader who has now presented his sixth budget in Moray with backing of Independent Councillors.

“What is the thought process that got them to this point? Frankly communities in Moray just cannot understand why they have chosen cuts in the areas that they have.”

SNP Slam Tory/Independent Budget Attack on Children and Vulnerable

‘11TH HOUR CHANGES LEAVE TORIES AND INDEPENDENTS LIKE HEADLESS CHICKENS’ – SNP Opposition Leader, Cllr Pearl Paul
SNP Councillors in Moray have lined up to slam the Tory/Independent Moray Council Administration’s budget which they say is an attack on children and the vulnerable.

During the budget debate in Moray’s Council Chamber the SNP opposition group of councillors rounded on Tory/Independent Councillors for ‘presiding over an incoherent budget that paid lip service to strategy and which isolated people and demoralised frontline staff’.

The SNP argued over several years for more attention to areas where the Tories and Independents could have found alternative savings that would significantly reduce the impact on frontline services including primary schools, libraries and public transport services in rural areas.

In a budget amendment SNP Group Leader Cllr Pearl Paul stated that the Administration should look at these areas and come back to a further meeting of the Council with a significantly amended budget taking account of the serious concerns raised by both the public and opposition councillors alike.

Speaking after the meeting Cllr Pearl Paul said:

Ward 1
Speyside Glenlivet

“What we have seen today is a Tory led administration with independent councillors propping up a series of shocking budget plans which is an attack on children and the vulnerable.

“The Tories and Independents say themselves that they have been working on this for six months but despite that ended up running round like headless chickens making a major budget change at the last minute in response to major opposition to their plans.

“They may well have consulted but they certainly didn’t listen and have now been forced into an eleventh hour, humiliating climbdown in the face of fierce opposition.

“In schools the reduction of Classroom Assistants will still make the critical delivery of Curriculum for Excellence much, much harder for staff and seriously risks turning the clock back from active learning for children to rows of desks and learning by rote.

“The library closures in Burghead, Hopeman, Rothes, Dufftown, Findochty, Portknockie and Cullen is basically taking one of the Council’s best performing services and destroying the good work and good will of library staff and the volunteers and communities that have supported the service over many years. We have an ageing population who need the support provided by libraries.

“Not only have they sounded the death knell for 7 libraries but they have also removed the subsidy for bus services that could have helped those libraries’ users get to other facilities.

“This regressive Tory/Independent budget does not represent the priorities of Moray’s people or of the SNP.”

Moray SNP Launch Council Campaign

Moray Scottish National Party has officially launched its campaign for the 2012 Council Elections, which take place on Thursday 3 May. SNP candidates have made a pledge to ‘build a better life for the people of Moray.’

The party has announced the names of 15 candidates across Moray’s 8 multi-member council wards including all 10 of the existing SNP Councillors that form the Council’s main opposition group.

Speaking at the campaign launch leader of the SNP’s current council group, Cllr Pearl Paul, said:

“The Independent/Conservative Administration of five years has left Moray Council lacking leadership and vision. The SNP’s strong group of candidates has the capacity to provide the unity, strength and accountability to take Moray forward with real commitment to benefit the lives of individuals and communities.

“Our Council Candidates cover a broad range of backgrounds, age and experience and I am especially pleased that we have a good balance of both women and men standing, demonstrating that the SNP has a broad appeal and that we are in touch with the issues that affect people right across our communities.

“Moray is blessed with a talented and skilled population, iconic industries, stunning environment and an excellent location. The SNP will build on these strengths, starting with our commitment to provide scope for Moray's young people to receive the finest education and career opportunities.

“The SNP, working with our communities, Community Planning partners and the private and voluntary sectors, will focus upon honing Moray's economy and policies in order to build economic success. We will strive to reverse the trend of too many young people leaving Moray to find employment opportunities elsewhere. We will focus upon the delivery of a competitive Moray, upon improving Moray's infrastructure specifically to attract businesses to the area, and upon bringing increased wealth to the county through new and better jobs for local residents.

“The SNP group in Moray promises to put the interests of Moray and of Scotland first.”

The candidates announced are as follows:

SNP Council Candidates for Moray - by Ward & in Alphabetical Order

Ward 1 – Speyside Glenlivet MICHAEL MCCONACHIE & PEARL PAUL
Ward 2 – Keith Cullen GARY COULL & HAZEL THAIN
Ward 3 – Buckie GORDON MCDONALD & LINDA MCDONALD
Ward 4 – Fochabers Lhanbryde MARGO HOWE & ANITA MCDONALD
Ward 5 – Heldon & Laich CAROLLE RALPH & DAVID STEWART
Ward 6 – Elgin City North MIKE SHAND
Ward 7 – Elgin City South GRAHAM LEADBITTER & JOHN SHARP
Ward 8 – Forres AARON MCLEAN & IRENE OGILVIE

SNP Slam Budget Consultation Farce At Moray Council

The SNP Opposition Council Group in The Moray Council have slammed the decision by the Tory/Independent Administration not to consult with Moray Communities on their forthcoming budget proposals.

SNP Opposition Leader Cllr Pearl Paul said:

“The Tory/Independent decision not to consult with our communities has come as a complete shock.

“After consulting in previous years they have given our communities an expectation that this is the process they will use but they are now just picking and choosing what to do when it suits them.

“The Tories and Independents have created Area Forums and built Community Engagement processes but are now ignoring the views of those very same bodies. That is just ridiculous. I think the public will be pretty cynical about an Administration that only consults when it feels like it.

“This would also have been an opportunity to get feedback on how previous budget decisions have affected our communities, which would have been very useful when looking at next year’s budget but that opportunity is now lost.

“Perhaps they don’t feel like explaining why they cut services and then miraculously found millions of pounds that could have kept those services going? They are treating Moray’s communities pretty shabbily and they should think again.”