Letter from Cosla leadership to Council leaders

Dear Colleague,

Concordat Commitment on Class Sizes

As you will be aware, there has been considerable press and Parliamentary interest in progress regarding the Concordat commitment to reduce class sizes.   This commitment was made in the spirit of the new relationship established by the Concordat and both COSLA’s Leaders and the new Cabinet Secretary for Education are determined that the strength of that new relationship is demonstrated by the way in which we deal with this difficult issue. 

The Government wish to see a considerable increase in the number of children in primaries 1,2 and 3 educated in class sizes of 18 or lower.  While this is an existing Concordat commitment, what has changed is that for the first time the Cabinet Secretary has been explicit about progress and would like to see a further 11,000 children across Scotland as a whole in classes of this size increasing the percentage of children in this situation to some 20 per cent.  This represents a further 7 per cent on the current position.

It is recognised that the Concordat was developed and agreed in one set of financial circumstances but is being delivered in much more difficult financial times.  COSLA’s Group Leaders are prepared to put the Cabinet Secretaries’ proposals to Councils but have been clear that to even consider delivering a greater priority and more explicit target in relation to class sizes, Councils will need greater flexibility in other areas.  In order to recognise this and to indicate the priority that is attached to the policy of class size reduction the Cabinet Secretary is prepared to offer this flexibility around about other Concordat commitments in order to allow Councils the maximum opportunity to contribute to the achievement of this clearer aspiration regarding class size reduction.

In return for Councils agreement to a specific and enhanced commitment to reduce class sizes in line with the aspiration outlined above, the Scottish Government proposes that :

• The commitment to the expansion of free school meals will be that “Councils will provide a nutritious free meal to all children in primaries P1-P3 in those schools that are in the 20 per cent most deprived communities in a Council area”. Councils might wish to consider an alternative targeting scheme of equal extent.
• A nutritious free meal can be breakfast, brunch or lunch and will need to meet relevant nutritional standards.  In schools that provide a free breakfast or brunch children who are entitled to a free lunch on the basis of the benefits received by their family will still be entitled to that lunch.
• For the purpose of this class size commitment the Scottish Government accepts that “ a group of children with more than one teacher assigned to it will be treated as more than one class.  Specifically, if 2 teachers are assigned to a class of not more than 36 pupils that counts as 2 classes of not more than 18”.
• Councils will provide free pre-school education to all children from their third birthday from August 2010 and affirm their commitment to the jointly devised Early Years framework, but there will be no legislation or regulation to require local authorities to expand pre-school provision from 475 hours to 570 hours from August 2010.
• Overall, local government’s progress so far on delivering kinship care payments will be recognised as making a major and satisfactory contribution to the Concordat Commitment.
• Councils will continue to make progress on class sizes beyond 2010 in line with the current wording of the Concordat.

COSLA’s Group Leaders insisted that all Councils should be involved individually in this issue in an appropriate way.  To achieve this, it was agreed that this letter should go to Leaders and Chief Executives explaining the more specific class size reduction aspiration of the new Cabinet Secretary, and the flexibilities that Government were prepared to offer in order to make the achievement of this aspiration as likely as possible. 

Councils are therefore being asked to

•  note the Government’s newly clarified aspiration;
• to note the package of flexibility that has been negotiated; and
• in the light of that to indicate to us how many additional children within their Council area they could educate in class sizes of 18 or less in primaries 1,2, and 3 from August 2010. 

Councils should note that the additional flexibilities will only be available if on a Scotland wide basis the Government’s aspiration for an additional 11,000 children to be in class sizes of 18 or less is met. Councils should also be aware that Ministers will want to clearly monitor, what action is being taken by individual authorities to achieve the 11, 000 increase.

We would like responses as soon as possible, but by middle of next week (Week beginning 14 December).