The Transforming Children’s Services programme has continued to take up a lot of time. Over 247 responses were received by the closing date of 27^th October. These were circulated online to all councillors, with names and addresses omitted because of the lack of security involved in such e-mailed communication. It was of course possible to work out the source of some of the messages from the context. Ron has now read all of these submissions and formed clearer ideas of the main areas of concern.

It has become obvious from discussion after this October 27^th deadline that the document will be significantly altered, and the new date for submission of the revised draft to the full Council is to be 18^th December. Ron will certainly be looking for specific changes and is contributing fully to the discussions with a view to bringing these changes about.

Hawick & Hermitage councillor Ron Smith has spoken of the need to avoid  educational cuts in next year’s budget round. He stated: ‘ It’s not possible for me to disregard a teaching career of 35 years, and I know my former colleagues at Hawick High School will have confidence that I understand their problems and will support them in their campaign against educational cuts. I voted against cuts in budgets devolved to headteachers last year and  will continue to argue against cuts in DSM budgets in the future’. Councillor Smith continued: ‘I don’t believe that cuts should ever be made in education. Schools are our investment in the future. They may have to adapt to changes in society, or in employment demands, but headteachers should be given adequate funding to allow them to run their schools efficiently, which may of course mean carrying over some funds from one year to the next, without being criticised for this’. Councillor Smith went on to stress that he was totally opposed to school closures, which harmed smaller rural communities in particular. 

However he noted that he had felt unable to agree to the wording of the question put by the parents’ lobby group led by Rory Bannerman. That question was ‘Are you as a Scottish Borders Councillor committed to supporting the Parent Council’s position to the extent that there should be no cuts in the education budget for 09/10 and you support the education budget at the very least remaining the same in real terms as that imposed in 08/09’.  The councillor stated:  ‘The present situation cannot continue, and all initiatives need to be individually considered. Expectations should always be of improvements in services such as education, but costs are constantly rising. With the freeze on Council Tax, the Council is being required to trim all services to the bone and education is competing against social work, roads etc. for scarce funding. Unless Council Tax is allowed to rise, savings will have to be made somewhere – in headquarters staffing, in energy consumption, in transportation costs etc.. I am opposed also to any staffing reduction, unless created by a major decline in pupil numbers’. 

Councillor Smith, for 12 years head of Geography at Hawick High and then on the school’s senior management team for a further 18 years, has had first hand experience of the curricular and financial pressures, while he also gained knowledge of the additional needs environment.  

In speaking of the Transforming Children’s Services review, currently out for consultation, he said: ‘I am not opposed to the shared headship initiative within Primary Schools. It can be difficult for ‘teaching headteachers’ to balance the needs of both jobs. They should have time to allow them to manage, and this also allows them some flexibility in their day to day cooperation with their staff. This initiative is also likely to be cost-neutral as new classteachers will be employed to replace them in class, giving pupils more continuity.’ However he did go on to express concern over the proposals to reduce the number of principal teachers in secondary schools. ‘I can understand that occasionally a subject might disappear, as the need for it might have reduced, but I just don’t support the faculty system at all. Three departments under the management of one teacher who may have limited qualification, experience, or even interest, across the set, doesn’t make sense.to me’. However let’s wait and see what responses come forward from schools on this issue. 

He concluded: ‘Hopefully the campaign against cuts last year will lead to a more sensitive approach to budgeting in the coming negotiations’.

Recently the main topic has been the Education cuts (or ‘efficiency savings’ as the jargon goes!). Ron worked at Hawick High School for 30 years, the later 18 as assistant headmaster, responsible among other things for liaison with the Primary schools. This also meant that he was closely involved with pupils who were transferring from Wilton’s Special Class into High School, and could then note their progress there. Reductions in DSM (Devolved School Management) budgets, and the threat of closure to Wilton Primary School’s pool, are therefore issues which cause him major concern.

At Council, Ron supported, along with fellow local councillors Zandra Elliot and Stuart Marshall, Davie Paterson’s amendment to the budget which would have seen around half a million pounds taken from reserves to support the schools, and reduce the impact of cuts. This move failed. However the drive for savings was reassessed. Hawick High School still has to make 2% cuts / savings amounting to £86557 (and this must impact on the service to be provided), but the local Primaries saw their position improve, with for example the planned saving of £14918 at Drumlanrig Primary becoming £8951, and £13428 at Trinity becoming £6983. At the smaller schools in Hawick & Hermitage ward, the amounts to be saved are proportionally smaller (but this was always said to be the original intention). At St Margaret’s RC Primary, £380 has to be saved, and at Roberton £181.

Ron has been consistently concerned that the amount which headteachers have been allowed to carry forward from year to the next has stood against them. To drain completely the budget for one financial year by the end of March would require commitments to be made by January, and this does not allow for the unexpected event in February or March. Also, headteachers have perhaps saved from their budgets towards particular projects, such as redecoration of the school, or re-equipping of classrooms, and this ability to manage their budget is being taken away from them. It has been said that, if they can carry forward a large amount of money, they obviously do not need that much in the first place!

It now seems likely that the pool at Wilton will reopen in mid-May and this is to be welcomed. This is very much part of a facility for the Special Class pupils at Wilton, and at Hawick High and for other identified children with particular special needs. The most important thing is to have this pool reopened to meet those needs. The facility is very specialised, and the plans for its reopening identify very specific improvements which are aimed at the needs of the disabled etc. The hoist, the Kiefer board and the general issue of the water temperature are more focused on the disabled. If other young children get to use Wilton Pool, for example to learn to swim, that’s great and is a bonus. Several voices are being heard calling for the pool to be available for a much wider range of children but let’s get it opened, and available as a therapy pool for those in most need and then take it from there.