Marilyne MacLaren: If criticism hits hard get out of politics

This is because the council must save more than 90 million over the next three years.

Some of these savings have already been identified, but we still have 50m to find.

The children and families department makes up nearly 40 per cent of the budget and this means we have to play a major part in meeting this target. We've already started work to make savings and to prioritise front line services and maximise efficiency.

The harsh reality is that we will be forced to reduce or, in some cases, stop providing services that make only a limited contribution to our core function. This is by no means an easy task and not everyone will like what we have to do.

Working to make budget savings is always a tough task – and not a pleasant one – but we have no choice but to do something about the funding shortfall.

Our staff directly support and enhance the lives of young people and they protect children who are in danger. Can there be a more important job out there? I certainly don't think so.

The services we provide are crucial and it has to be said that the council recognises this.

However, in the face of unprecedented budget restrictions we must continue to make savings and consider carefully how all services are delivered in future.

We don't have a choice about this, but I want everyone to know that we will take great care to protect the most vital services and make the department as efficient and effective as possible.

Last year we made savings of 12.2m and the year before that, 9m.

This is equivalent to the annual running costs of five secondary schools.

We took the decision to tackle this challenge head-on.

We refocused and improved educational attainment across all sectors, opened five new schools, sent more of our pupils to further and higher education, lowered exclusion rates and increased the vital school supplies budget to higher levels than ever before.

More pupils achieved the Duke of Edinburgh Award, more children leaving care got better grades in maths and English and we've improved our child protection and social work services.

We even found that satisfaction levels among local residents with their local school increased by about 20 per cent over the past two years.

We've achieved all of this in difficult circumstances through strong political will and thanks to the quality and dedication of 7,000 staff who care deeply about the job they do and the children and families they serve.

I'm confident we can still deliver if we continue to prioritise carefully.

All of the resources available to us will be targeted at doing just that.

We do understand that there are many projects and services in the city that are important to many people for different reasons. We'll be doing our very best to limit the impact of cuts on communities by ensuring resources are provided where they are most needed.

Cuts are never easy to stomach.

School closures might not have been popular but local authorities who ignore under-capacity schools do so at their peril. They cost huge amounts of money and investment in education suffers as a result.

Recent closures in Edinburgh mean that 2m of valuable savings each year have been made. That's 2m each year that can be used for the benefit of all schools across the city.

Some would have you believe that it's all bad – it's not!

Soon we will start building two new secondary schools, meaning 117m will be invested in the children and families estate, Curriculum for Excellence will be fully implemented and extra resources will be directed towards vital services for children at risk.

We'll ensure that 20 per cent of P1-P3 pupils are in classes of 18 or fewer by August, we'll invest to continue the excellent improvement in attainment, we'll modernise the community learning and development service to bring it up to date and our schools will be opened up so that more people can use our excellent facilities.

All of this work is at the core of what we are about as a service.

Edinburgh has education and children's services to be proud of – services that are highly valued by those who use them. I didn't come into politics to make cuts but our hand has been forced by things going on in the world over which we have no control.

We'll protect the high quality of our vital services and we'll ensure that communities have access to important local resources, but no-one can hide from the challenges that are coming our way.

I am absolutely committed, and have been all my life, to improving the well-being of children and young people.

I enjoy the job I have, but any politician who thinks they can avoid criticism shouldn't be a politician.

People air their views about your plans and not everyone will agree with you. Some will do that constructively and others won't be so constructive.

I try not to take criticism to heart – but I realise it comes with the territory in such an emotive area and during such difficult times.

What I do welcome is feedback that will help us make the right choices.

That's what politics and public life is all about but there will always be difficult decisions to make.

All I can do is assure people that I won't shirk the responsibilities and I'll fight as hard as I can to protect vital services from the threats they face.