Finance secretary Kate Forbes addressed MSPs in the Scottish Parliament this afternoon in what was the first pre-Christmas Budget since 2018 - but there were few surprises for schools and teachers.
Ms Forbes described the Budget - the first developed by the government under its partnership agreement with the Greens - as “a transitional Budget” aiming “to lift our eyes to the future”.
However, Ms Forbes said that “with Covid funding having been removed, day-to-day funding next year is significantly less compared to the current year” - although the Scottish Conservatives argued that the SNP had received “a bigger block grant from the UK government to spend in this Budget than ever before”.
When it came to schools, Ms Forbes said the Budget provided “increased resources” and included “record increased investment in teacher recruitment, supporting the recruitment of at least 3,500 teachers and 500 classroom assistants over this Parliament”.
The Scottish Greens - who entered into a power-sharing deal with the government earlier this year - said the Budget delivered the biggest increase in funding to support teacher recruitment since 2007 and included funding of £145.5 million for teachers and classroom assistants, enough to employ around 2,500 teachers and 500 support staff.
Ross Greer, the Greens’ education spokesperson, said it was “a strong first step towards our goal of 3,500 additional teachers in schools during this term of Parliament”.
But a teaching union said that, while the goal to recruit 3,500 additional teachers and classroom assistants was “laudable”, the Budget failed to address pay and was ”disappointingly short of any immediate measures to tackle the ongoing real-terms cuts to teachers’ pay”.
Mike Corbett, national official of the NASUWT Scotland teaching union, said: “While the finance secretary was setting out next year’s plans for public sector pay, teachers are still waiting for a pay award for this year.
“The proposals on pay not only fail to address the current situation for teachers but would represent a continuation of the real-terms cuts to teachers’ salaries into 2022-23.”
Key areas of investment
The key areas of investment relevant to schools and teachers highlighted by Ms Forbes included:
- £200 million for the Scottish Attainment Challenge.
- £110 million for free bus travel for young people under the age of 22 from January.
- Over £72 million for the continued expansion of free school lunches - providing lunches for all children in P1 to P5 and special schools, and supporting the infrastructure required to roll out lunches to all primary children by August next year.
- £544 million to deliver free funded early learning and childcare for three- and four-year-olds, and two-year-olds from lower-income households, while taking forward work to expand that to one-year-olds from low-income households within this Parliament.
- £197 million to double the Scottish Child Payment to £20 per week, with that commitment brought forward to April 2022.
- £2 billion for Scotland’s universities and colleges.
Ultimately, Ms Forbes said that nearly £200 million in next year’s Budget was “going directly to lift children across Scotland out of poverty”.
However, the government has been criticised for changes to the Scottish Attainment Challenge - its drive to close the attainment gap between advantaged and disadvantaged pupils.
Local authorities previously targeted by the programme because of high levels of deprivation will see their funding cut over the coming years, as the same pot of cash that used to be shared among just nine councils, is divided up across all 32 authorities.
Ms Forbes said: “The 2022-23 budget addresses our key priorities, targets resources for low-income households and paves the way for future investment over the life of this Parliament. It is a budget of choices.
“My last two budgets have been shaped by our experiences of Covid but we are now lifting our eyes to the future. This is a transitional Budget, as people, businesses and services get back on their feet.
“This budget focuses on tackling the climate emergency, reducing inequalities and supporting economic recovery.
“It is the first budget of this partnership in government and has been developed in cooperation with the Scottish Green Party, delivering on commitments made as part of the Bute House Agreement. I welcome their support and their constructive challenge.”
