Scottish Government needs to ditch council tax freeze to save our kids' education

Humza Yousaf’s rushed announcement of a council tax freeze took minutes to unravel. He did not consult councils, ignored his partners in the Greens and failed to keep his own civil servants in the loop.

The First Minister also declined to put a figure on how much this policy would cost. Another downside is that freezing the tax for everyone will put additional pressure on councils that are already cash-strapped.

The government wants to freeze tax while at the same time protecting teacher numbers – a sizable chunk of a local authority’s spending. Holyrood ministers also want a national guarantee on the amount of time pupils spend in the classroom.

But as we report today, council chiefs are saying they want the power to reduce teacher numbers and classroom hours if a freeze happens. If school hours end up being cut, that would be a terrible blow to pupils already reeling from the loss of schooling during the Covid pandemic.

While axing teaching jobs would destroy morale when teachers are already facing a discipline crisis in the classroom and sky-rocketing stress levels. Lack of cash means councils will have to turn to other areas – such as leisure services and libraries – to find cuts.

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Little wonder then that Cosla believes any freeze should be tied to councils having flexibility on teacher numbers. In the real world, this means cuts to education and the axe being taken to posts.