Row breaks out as SNP accuses council of squandering money to recruit teachers

dailyrecord.co.uk:

West Lothian Council's Chief Executive has hit back at claims on social media by a local MSP that extra Holyrood funding has not been spent on teachers.On the day that the council's Education PDSP debated proposed cuts in teaching staff, Fiona Hyslop said on her social media that the council had only recruited 29 teachers by December, having been given an additional £5m by the Scottish Government last year.The post prompted an angry response from West Lothian's Labour group which leads the minority-run council, as well from senior council officers.Mrs Hyslop said on her Facebook post: "West Lothian Council received £5.526m and that should have seen them able to recruit around 100 more teachers but official statistics published in December show that they only recruited 29 more."I have written to the Labour/Conservative run West Lothian Council to ask why they have failed to recruit these extra teachers and to assure me that they will use this additional £5.526m - which is also available in 2023-2024 - to recruit more teachers as was agreed and originally intended."A council spokesman told the Local Democracy Reporting Service Mrs Hyslop had made a "completely inaccurate allegation"But Mrs Hyslop insisted her concerns over teacher recruitment were shared by trade unions and said the council had to explain in full how the funding had been used, adding: "Parents, pupils and teachers and the public need transparency and accountability for the Council."In response to the social media post, a council spokesman said: "It has been explained to local MSPs that this funding has been allocated in full to provide an additional 83.41 full time equivalent (FTE) teachers and 19.81 FTE pupil support workers in 2022/23.