5,000 signatures reached
To: City of Edinburgh Council and Scottish Government
STOP INCLUSION CUTS
We are a group of concerned parents petitioning City of Edinburgh Council against their plans to balance their budget by drastically reducing services for vulnerable children who have disabilities and additional support needs (ASN) in Edinburgh schools.
Officials have proposed a £4 million cut from its “inclusion” spending. These proposed cuts will affect ALL families across Edinburgh, not only ones whose children access ASN services, but ALL children as demand on teaching staff will be much higher, adding pressure to an already overstretched model.
We desperately need your help. Please raise your voice and make Edinburgh Council look again at their priorities and stop trying to balance their books on the backs of the most vulnerable. A cut in services may save the council money in the short term but in the long term it will have a disastrous impact on ALL children’s wellbeing, attainment, and teacher retention, as well as adding to future pressure on other services.
We are also petitioning the Scottish Government in order that they recognise that their cuts to council budgets are impacting councils' abilities to provide essential services. This is a pattern repeating across Scotland and it must be stopped.
More information here https://www.scotsman.com/education/school-staff-cuts-planned-as-edinburgh-council-chiefs-plot-ps4m-raid-on-support-for-vulnerable-pupils-4764817
What can you do to help ?
What can you do to help ?
Please stand with us and tell the City of Edinburgh Council and the Scottish Government to STOP INCLUSION CUTS and protect Edinburgh services for children with disabilities and additional support needs.
You can
Sign this petition.
Share this petition.
Write to your councillors and ask them to vote against the inclusion cuts
Write to your MSPs and ask them to provide adequate budgets to councils to protect services for children with with disabilities and additional support needs.
Why is this important?
The proposed cuts to inclusion will affect ALL children in Edinburgh schools, disproportionately impacting the most vulnerable.
Some of the proposed cuts are currently as follows
- Removal of a central Additional Support for Learning (ASL) service
- Removal of Forest school.
- Removal of Hospital education services
- Restructuring of Educational Psychology department.
- Removal of a central Additional Support for Learning (ASL) service
- Removal of Forest school.
- Removal of Hospital education services
- Restructuring of Educational Psychology department.
- Removal or paring back holiday hub service that supports disabled and ASN children in the school holidays.
- Adding more duties to PSA job descriptions including the expectation that they will have to deal with physical violence as standard.
- It is unclear what will happen to English as an Additional Language services, one of the largest additional support needs in the city.
- It is unclear what will happen to English as an Additional Language services, one of the largest additional support needs in the city.
Why is this petition important?
Despite the spin that this is merely restructuring, it is quite clear that this is a cost-cutting exercise for an already overstretched service. The cuts will have a huge negative impact on ALL children's education: disproportionately impacting both children with disabilities and those from minority ethnic backgrounds.
Over the last year, the families of children with ASN have already fought CEC attempts to remove Edinburgh Childcare for All (afterschool care for disabled children), the Enhanced Support Bases (support for ASN pupils in mainstream schools) and Holiday Hubs (holiday support for disabled children who can't attend typical holiday clubs).
Concerned parents have attempted to consult with CEC over the last year but are extremely disappointed with how this has been handled. Surveys and engagement meetings appear to be tick box exercises, with concerns expressed by parents and teaching staff not being addressed and unrealistic timescales being imposed.
Therefore we need your help. We ALL need to work together and raise our voices to make CEC listen and realise that their plans are not acceptable. By sharing and signing this petition and writing to your councillors, you can add your voice to tell Edinburgh councillors loud and clear to STOP INCLUSION CUTS.
What’s the bigger picture?
School should be accessible to all children, regardless of disability or support needs. 48% of school pupils across Lothian have some sort of Additional Support Need, a percentage dramatically rising. Removal of any of these services is going to be detrimental to ALL our children.
According to the Scottish Government, “Disabled people should have freedom, dignity, choice and control over their lives. We want to remove the barriers that stop people from enjoying equal access to full citizenship.” These plans are clearly at odds with this ethos.
The Holyrood Education, Children and Young People Committee 2024/4 inquiry into Additional support needs in Education found that local authorities were already failing to implement mainstreaming properly, saying 'the situation for children with additional support needs is intolerable' (Susan Webber MSP Committee Convener)
By signing this petition, you are also telling the Scottish Government that they need make good on their promises and provide adequate budgets for councils to be able to protect these services.
How it will be delivered
In person to City of Edinburgh Council and Scottish Government
