Fife News : Labour Score Spectacular 'own goals' in Fife! - 10-10-2008

10% INCREASE IN EDUCATION BUDGET COMPARED TO LABOUR CUTS

Rounding on a Labour Party attack on education and the free school meals policy in Fife Council - after Labour were thoroughly trounced at First Minister's Questions on free school meals - Central Fife MSP Tricia Marwick said:

"Labour have scored spectacular own goals in Fife on both education and free school meals.

"The Leader of the Administration has confirmed that they are committed to the policy of free school meals for all children in primaries 1-3 from August 2010, following the highly successful pilot in the Kingdom and elsewhere.

"As councils rally to that policy, Labour are looking increasingly foolish and isolated in Fife and across Scotland.  Labour's opposition to the historic Concordat - which is delivering excellent measures such as the Council Tax freeze - leaves Labour MSPs in the inept position of opposing a massively popular policy.

"And on education, the SNP-led Fife Council administration has INCREASED the education budget from the £247.4 million inherited from Labour for 2007/08 to £272.2 million for 2008/09 - a rise of over 10 per cent.

"That is why there are 27 additional teachers now in post in Fife. And why attainment in the 5-14 year old age group in reading, writing and mathematics - in both primary and secondary schools - is now the best Fife has EVER achieved in all three subjects.

"In stark contrast, in Labour's last two years in charge of Fife, they CUT 75 teaching posts as part of a series of cuts that took £8.7 million out of education's coffers.

"No wonder Labour were flung out of Fife at both council and parliamentary level.

"And SNP-led Fife have also provided for a £600,000 increase in school based expenditure from 2009/10 onwards.  Labour's claims of cuts are fantasy - the only education cuts ever in Fife were under Labour."

Cllr Peter Grant, Leader of the Fife Council Administration, said:

"The pilot in Fife Council was a huge success, and the SNP fully intend to honour our concordat commitments to introduce free school meals for children in primaries 1-3 from August 2010.  The resources for free school meals were included in the local government settlement, and we intend to allocate them accordingly for 2010.

"We set our three year budget in February 2008, when the evaluation of the free school meals pilot had obviously not been completed.  That is one reason why we set aside over £2 million unallocated resources for 2009/10 rising to over £7 million in future years in recognition of such developments."

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