Glasgow Conservative group accused of an ‘attack’ on children

Budget proposals put forward by the city’s Conservatives included reducing the number of teachers to save almost £1.8m.

It would have involved cutting 51 teachers and affected up to 20,000 children, an equality impact assessment found.

Cllr Jen Layden, the city convener for equalities and human rights, said she was “shocked and saddened” by the plan, which failed as an SNP/Green budget was voted through.

But Cllr Thomas Kerr, the Conservative group leader, said “tough funding decisions had to be made by every political party” due to SNP Government cuts.

The “high” impact assessment stated “service users are children with English as an additional language as a result this protected group is most likely to be impacted by any change in service provision”.

It added: “The current teaching workforce profile is predominantly female. Therefore any potential impacts are more likely to affect women.”

Cllr Layden said: “This cut proposed by the Glasgow Tories was a direct attack on ethnic minority children in this city.

“We know their Westminster masters want to push their xenophobic policies across the UK but I was shocked and saddened to see this proposed in Glasgow.

“We are a diverse, multicultural city that welcomes people from all over the world and that means supporting young people from different backgrounds as they find their feet, not pulling the rug out from under them.”

And the city’s education convener, Cllr Chris Cunningham, added: “The removal of 51 full time equivalent English as an additional language teachers in the city would have a devastating impact on the life chances of young people new to Scotland.

“It would also have had a detrimental impact on the overall attainment in the city, which is at record high, no thanks to the Westminster Tories and their policies which care little for working class and refugee families.”

In response, Cllr Kerr said: “Savage cuts from the SNP government yet again meant tough funding decisions had to be made by every political party.

“They continue to pass on their cuts to councils and force councillors to take responsibility rather than doing it themselves. I was proud of the Glasgow Conservative budget which stood up for hard-pressed families and communities across our city.

“That was in stark contrast to SNP-Greens councillors who shamefully axed vital warmth payments for our pensioners.”