FALLING school rolls in Dumfries and Galloway has led directly to a £3.4m reduction in education funding for the region, it has been revealed.
Pupil numbers decreased by 346 between 2021 and 2023, and in each of those years Dumfries and Galloway Council received a reduction in associated education funding from the Scottish Government.
A cashpot is split between all councils based on pupil numbers, therefore the new calculations has resulted in a reduced share of funding totalling £3,437,000 over the three-year period.
With less cash, fewer pupils, and expected school mergers in the next few years, there is much debate about the number of teacher jobs in the region.
In a report on the issue, education director Gillian Brydson wrote: “The number of school pupils in Dumfries and Galloway, as a proportion of the national total, has fallen from 2.654 percent in 2021 to 2.602 percent in 2023.
“The impact of this on the funding passed to our council through the local government finance settlement is significant (£3.4m over three years) as reflected in the annual funding loss figures.
“It is also important to note that it is anticipated that the number of pupils in Dumfries and Galloway schools will fall by around 380 in 2024 which is a greater fall than those seen in previous years.
“This will have a significant impact on the proportion of the Local Government Finance Settlement funding made available to our council from financial year 2025/26.
“The national debate around teacher number restrictions remains ongoing with councils seeking greater clarifications and assurances in relation to how the revised arrangements will work, initially through ongoing national discussions but also through subsequent individual council discussions with the Scottish Government.”
The Scottish Government is calling upon councils to maintain teacher numbers to fall in line with its national policies.
However, with councils under so much pressure to balance the books, local authority collective COSLA is arguing that councils should have flexibility on how they manage budgets based on their own unique regional needs.
COSLA’s position is also that “the numbers of teachers employed should be related to the number of pupils and therefore the number of classes required by the employing authority.”
