Scottish Government fails to update councils on teacher numbers plans

The Herald Scotland

15-05-2025

A spokesperson for COSLA - which represents Scotland's councils - called the delay "disappointing".
Late last year, the government announced an agreement with COSLA to 'restore teacher numbers to 2023 levels' for the 2025/26 school year. The deal was also supposed to lead to 'meaningful progress towards reducing class contact time for teachers', which was promised in the last SNP election manifesto.
All councils were asked to provide information to the government by the end of last year, including in areas where they believed that mitigating circumstances should entitle them to some form of exemption from the government's demands. Many highlighted falling school rolls and insufficient government funding in their submissions.
Following receipt of this material, government officials held meetings with a number of councils to discuss their circumstances.
During one such meeting with West Dunbartonshire Council, government officials advised that a final decision on whether mitigating factors would be accepted was a matter for Education Secretary Jenny Gilruth, and that communication to be issued by the end of April would 'set out the Scottish Government position'.
In an email to officers at North Ayrshire Council, the government states that this is intended to provide 'more clarity' and enable the council to finalise plans for teacher numbers in 2025/26 'with greater certainty".
However, The Herald has now confirmed that no such communication has been issued, leaving councils unclear about the government's approach to funding around teacher numbers and facing the prospect of financial sanctions being imposed by the Education Secretary.
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The government has acknowledged that councils were advised that they would be updated by the end of April, but says that this was not a formal deadline.
Earlier this week, The Herald revealed that during a discussion with officers from West Dunbartonshire Council, the government was warned it could face legal action if it attempt to impose sanctions on councils failing to increase teacher numbers for the coming year.
An official note of the meeting, released under Freedom of Information legislation, reveals that council officers challenged government education officials about the current plans, highlighting that their delayed response meant that budgets had already been set.
Council staff went on to state that they currently have no plans to increase teacher numbers, pointing to funding shortfalls, falling school rolls, and a decline in the number of probationers being allocated to the authority.
Officials from the Scottish government 'stated that it was unlikely that any mitigation covering further reductions would be accepted, but that they would report this to the Cabinet Secretary for her decision.' The meeting note also states that they accepted that 'a focus on teacher numbers isn't necessarily the best measure' of education provision but added: "we are where we are".
Council officers were ultimately told that an agreement has been made between the government and COSLA – which represents local authorities – to restore teacher numbers.
At this stage, the note says that they 'stated that there would be grounds to challenge this, perhaps through a Judicial Review".
The note continues: 'The agreement between COSLA and the Scottish Government was done at very short notice, without adequate time for Leaders to be fully briefed by officers. The delay to this meeting is also after our budget has been set, so any clawback or financial penalties are after the fact. If there are financial penalties, the reality is that this will have to be found from elsewhere in the Education budget.'
A COSLA spokesperson told The Herald: 'As part of a wider agreement on funding, Scottish Government asked that councils restore teacher numbers to 2023 levels. It should be noted that this only impacted on councils where numbers of teachers had been reduced since 2023.
'In many councils the number of teachers had not changed or had increased over the period. There was a recognition that there are valid reasons why a council may have reduced teacher numbers, such as falling school roles. Government agreed to consider these reasons provided by councils, referred to as 'mitigations', before deciding how or whether this should impact on funding.
'It is clear that in taking this approach Government recognised that it is appropriate to consider the individual geographic, demographic, funding and other substantive factors impacting on the practicality of meeting the 2023 target. It is disappointing that clarity around what Scottish Government would consider acceptable mitigations has not yet been provided, however we cannot comment on the timescales that Government is working to in undertaking this assessment.
'As reported widely, public service budgets have been under pressure for some time. COSLA, on behalf of our member councils, is clear that maintaining funding for hard pressed councils to be able to continue to deliver critical services is vital. In the light of this we trust that Government will work closely with councils to understand their decisions and their work to support learners.'
A spokesperson for the Scottish Government said: 'Delivering the agreement to restore teacher numbers to 2023 levels requires ongoing engagement with councils and is based on a joint commitment made by COSLA and the Scottish Government. We have been engaging with councils since December, and discussions with some are still ongoing. We expect to be able to communicate decisions to councils shortly.'