Published The Extra On Line -

5/3/2020


Drew Sandelands
Published: 08:07 Wednesday 04 March 2020

East Renfrewshire Council criticised over funding cuts

East Renfrewshire Council has been criticised over plans to cut funding for the lowest performing pupils despite listing support for vulnerable children as one of its ambitions for the future.

Tory councillor Jim Swift questioned why the administration proposed a reduction of £442,000 in support for the lowest 20 per cent of pupils when the authority’s draft ‘Vision for the Future’, outlining its long-term ambitions over the next ten years, pledges to “reduce inequalities”.

The vision states: “More support for vulnerable children at an earlier time in their lives will ensure more children will progress and develop in line with their age.

“Educational achievements in reading, writing and numeracy will improve, helping to reduce inequalities as they grow older.”

Mr Swift also criticised the council for including “equality of outcomes” as one of the vision’s key themes.

He said: “Given there is a significant diversity on capabilities, preferences, what people would choose to want to do, is equality of outcomes actually even remotely possible? Equality of opportunity I would absolutely go along with.

“We’ll never get equality of outcomes, that’s a socialist utopian, or dystopian, kind of dream/nightmare. Call it whatever you will. We will all do the same and we will all have hellish lives.

“The more support for vulnerable children I can absolutely buy but why then in your budget are you cutting £442,000 from the least able children?”

However, Caroline Bamforth, SNP, hit back at Mr Swift’s comments and suggested words he had used previously had come close to eugenics.

She said: “Can I remind councillor Swift of his comment at an IJB (Integrated Joint Board) seminar, that we should set a cap on provision for children and young people with additional support needs.

“Councillor Swift considered, or opined, that we should set a cap on spending on the learning disabled. A comment that he reiterated recently in front of a colleague and I.

“I think the idea that we cap spending on the learning disabled is quite abhorrent and, as someone else mentioned to you on the day, the word eugenics comes into mind.”

But Mr Swift said: “My concern that I raised was there is no cap, and there’s a difference between being no cap on access to services through social care but there is a cap on the other side. It is an integrated joint board, with health and social care.

“My concern is there is a cap on people accessing life-saving medicine. For example, somebody with cancer.

“There is a threshold, which means somebody in our community living with cancer will not get access to expensive drugs, and have their life saved, because some of those drugs will potentially save their lives.

“Whereas young people, for example, who will get access to £320,000 a year worth of services. I’m not saying one is unacceptable, I’m saying there’s an imbalance on saving lives across different aspects of health and social care.

“I was merely trying to highlight a paradox, not actually approving of eugenics.”

He added he was keen to support the least affluent in society in their educational attainment.