Highland schools early closing 'could save millions' - but is it a good idea?
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PROPOSALS have been drawn up to shut all council buildings - including schools - half day on Fridays.
The controversial proposal drawn up by Highland Council’s administration could save around £8 million and could become effective next year.
Council sources says £3.9 million would be saved by closing all council buildings earlier in the week, reducing cleaning, heating and other costs.
And a further £4.1 million would be saved by shutting schools half day on a Friday, in a move that could effectively cut teaching time for primary school pupils by 2.5 hours-per-week.
The teaching union has voiced concern but council leader Margaret Davidson said she wanted to speak with staff affected by the proposed changes before making any formal comment.
She did not rule out the proposed cuts but said it was important to remember that all budget proposals were “only proposals at this stage” - and there would be no compulsory reduction in working hours.
Staff would volunteer if they wanted to cut their hours or they could work flexi-time to retain their hours.
“Everything that we are putting out is just a proposal. Nothing is set in stone,” she said.
The administration will need the support of the other councillors before any of the proposals can be put into place and members of the citizen’s panel will be asked to comment on the ideas this week as part of a budget consultation questionnaire.
The proposals are understood to be on a draft budget paper drawn up by the leading Independents administration group, which some opposition councillors have had sight of.
A source said: “We had to sign out the papers and return them before we left the building. They said school closures would save £4.1 million in staff costs, heating costs, cleaning costs. The 4.5 day-week for the rest of the council would save £3.9 million.”
Another councillor, who also wanted to remain unnamed, said: ““There’s a proposition just now to reduce the council week by half-a-day by closing all the buildings at Friday lunch-time.
"There would be no loss of salary to any member of staff, they would have to work the two-and-a-half hours through the week, it would be flexible working, unless of course they wanted to take a salary sacrifice.”
He added: “The reality is that on Friday afternoons there’s hardly anybody left in the buildings anyway so it means we are heating the buildings so by shutting them that bit early we would be making a huge, huge saving.”
Isla O’Reily, a mother-of-three who is the Scottish Green Party Holyrood list candidate for Highlands and Islands, said she quite liked the sound of the making substantial energy savings by closing council buildings earlier in the week.
However, she was concerned about the cut to the school say.
“That would be my major concern,” she said. “That might mean that the children are going to get two-and-a-half hours less of schooling, which obviously we do not want, because they already have less teaching time that other areas.
"The actual closing of the other council buildings does not sound like too bad an idea but I would be totally against cutting school hours.”
Bob Coleman, secretary of the Highland branch of the Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS), was also worried about the impact on youngster’s education - and on teaching jobs.
He said: “If you add up that half day that’s a significant amount of education that the primary pupils would be losing. And there is probably a threat to the jobs of visiting teachers who are coming in to the schools and providing drama, art, music and PE.
"When this was previously mooted as a possible budget savings I challenged this on the grounds of the loss of teacher jobs and the subjects that they would be losing education in.”
He added: “I have not actually seen any of the proposals at all but I know in some secondary schools in Highland the arrangement of shutting half day on Friday is already in place.
"They have a 33-period week and what that allows them to do through the week is to start earlier and it means that they can close on a Friday afternoon. There’s no affect on the pupil working week at all.”
Plans by the previous SNP-led administration to shorten the school week by 2.5 hours were scrapped after meeting fierce opposition from the union and many parents.
A primary school teacher warned that the move would leave Highland youngsters trailing behind their counterparts in other parts of the country. He said children in the north would miss out on the equivalent of three terms of schooling over their seven years in primary school.
The council meeting in June considered a report which estimated a forecast budget deficit for the next three financial years of £46.3 million.
The savings that need to be found in February for next year’s budget are understood to be in the region of £21 million. The final figure will not be known until the Scottish Government announces the local authority settlement just before Christmas.
Leader of the Opposition at Highland Council, Maxine Smith (Cromarty Firth) though said she was appalled by the way the matter had been handled.
She said: "Firstly, it is extremely important to remember that people take on jobs that they can fit around balancing their work with having a life and for many who have families, it is not possible for them to start work at 7 or 8am.
"I would also question whether or not contracts can be changed in this way without having an impact on Terms and Conditions, so therefore imposing a 4.5-day week may well be illegal.
"Employees who want to start work early are already doing so under the Flexible Working terms. If they are not, then this is for a good reason.
"Secondly, I do not think this will produce 'energy' savings as buildings still need to be cleaned, which will necessitate using electricity and having heated buildings.
"It is illegal to have people working in buildings below a certain temperature, and cleaners are no exception to this. They cannot expect cleaners to change their working hours, as many have other commitments.
"I think it is appalling that the Members learn about this considered proposal for savings via a press release sent out late today (Monday).
"This should have been something that was discussed in our briefings with the Administration. They talk a nice talk about openness and transparency, but when it comes to the crunch they are no such thing."
"I am so disappointed that this is being brought forward for consideration just before Christmas, raising huge concerns amongst the workforce, at a time when they are already stressed about finances."
How do you feel about these proposals? Can you think of better ways to save similar amounts of money? Share your views by emailing editor@rsjournal.co.ukor leave a comment here.
