SCOTLAND faces a potential lost generation of children and young people if budget cuts continue, local authorities have been warned.
The warning comes from an alliance of leading independent and third-sector service providers that are alarmed at cuts to vital services for children and young people with additional support needs (ASN).
The Scottish Children’s Services Coalition is now calling on councils to put their needs at the heart of future policy commitments.
Launching its manifesto ahead of the council elections, the Coalition has condemned the cuts as a false economy, as those with ASN often go on to become a “costly burden” on society and the economy if their needs are not met.
ASN provision in Scotland is under severe pressure due to austerity cuts, and the Coalition has called on incoming town hall administrations to increase funding and protect services for those with ASN, such as dyslexia, autism and mental health problems.
More than 170,000 children and young people in Scotland’s publicly funded primary, secondary and special schools are classed as having ASN, amounting to just less than a quarter (24.9 per cent) of pupils. This represents a 44 per cent increase since 2012.
However, since 2012 the number of specialist ASN teachers in local authority primary and secondary schools has fallen by 16 per cent, from 2,146 to 1,799, and the number of pupil-support staff, such as ASN auxiliaries or care assistants, has fallen by five per cent.
While the Coalition says it is fully supportive of mainstream education for those with ASN, it has raised concerns that vulnerable children and young people may not be getting the care and support they need in the classroom – with an impact not only on them, but on their peers and teachers.
It has called for these cuts in staffing numbers to be reversed, and for adequate resourcing to support mainstream education for those with ASN so that it is a fully inclusive experience and helps close the educational attainment gap.
The coalition is also calling for better training for those working with children and young people with ASN; professional independent advocacy for children and young people who have been in care; and for an elected councillor to be appointed as a “mental health champion”.
Its manifesto also calls for increased specialist provision for children and young people on the grounds that the educational needs of some children and young people with complex or specific needs are better met in specialist settings.
In addition it says all secondary schools must have access to a qualified and appropriately experienced counsellor. In Wales, where school counselling is entrenched in law, 86 per cent of children and young people who had access to a school-based counsellor did not require onward referral to specialist help after the completion of an average of five counselling sessions.
“Councils are facing a difficult financial environment, but they play an absolutely vital role in meeting the additional support needs of children and young people,” said coalition member Kenny Graham from Falkland House School.
“We urge incoming council administrations to put services that impact on vulnerable children and young people at the very heart of their policy commitments and look for them to increase funding for these.
“Failing to do so amounts to a ‘false economy’ because if their needs are not met they often go on to become a costly burden on society.”
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