Schools chiefs 'should target back office'

Published on Tuesday 9 February 2010 09:07

EDUCATION bosses should save money by stripping out back office costs, opposition councillors said today.

The Conservative group on the city council is calling for education backroom staff to be reduced by one third in the next three years, and halved within five years.

It also wants all school and council buildings to be made available for public use and let - with an increase in the rates charged from those that are already available. Under its proposals, there would be no cut to devolved school budgets.

Cllr Cameron Rose, finance spokesman for the Tory group on the council, wants the number of education staff employed by the council, Scottish Government and HM Inspectorate of Education to be slashed. He said: "All of those layers are suffocating education. They are also inefficient. We have doubled spend in 10 years but attainment has flat-lined."

Other Tory proposals for Thursday's budget include withdrawing from local authority representative Cosla, and scrapping the pledge to cut class sizes.