SNP's class-size limit of 18 may be illegal

The concerns have come from Edinburgh City Council, led by an SNP/ Liberal Democrat coalition, which has told Scottish Government ministers they will have to introduce a new law if they want to limit classes to 18.

They believe that without a new law they would not be able to take on parents who want to exercise their right to choose more popular primaries.

It is the latest blow for the SNP flagship policy, which critics had already claimed was not worth the paper on which it was written. The manifesto promise of limiting class sizes to 18 had been watered down to an aim in the government's concordat with councils.

And recently SNP-led Renfrewshire Council sparked controversy by scrapping maximum class sizes in secondary schools to try to impose class sizes of 18 in P1 to P3 classes.

Glasgow City Council refused to try to bring in the smaller primary class sizes at the expense of its secondary class sizes.

Now Edinburgh City Council has said it will have difficulty working towards the new class size targets because "there is no legislation that allows the council to restrict class sizes to 18".

The problem is raised in its formal deal with the government on delivering services, known as the single outcome agreement.

The council believes it cannot use the class size policy as a defence against any challenges made by parents who have not been allowed to send their children to popular primary schools.

Added to that, the council has joined others across Scotland in pointing out that it needs more money to reduce class sizes, with 7.45 million required for 205 new teachers and 16 million to provide new classrooms.

Edinburgh Conservative MSP David McLetchie said: "What this proves is that the SNP policy, which it made so much of during the election, is not worth the paper it is written on.

"What we see here is that the policy may in itself be illegal and an SNP-led council does not even believe it has the power to limit class sizes to 18 in the face of challenges from parents. It goes against legislation that guarantees parents' right to choose."

Fiona Hyslop, the education secretary, did not respond to the legal problem, but pointed out that Edinburgh had falling school rolls.

She added: "We have made clear the local government settlement specifically included a special provision to maintain teacher numbers nationally at around 53,000 in the face of falling school rolls – and that by doing this local authorities can reduce class sizes.

"We have also increased funding to local government by more than 13 per cent over the next three years, providing 34.9 billion."