Councillors Praise Decision To Reject Centralised School Admission Appeals

Dundee Liberal Democrat Councillors have praised the Council’s ‘unequivocal’ rejection of the SNP Scottish Government’s proposals for the national Scottish Tribunals service to hear placing requests for schools, currently dealt with by local authorities.

Most parents opt for their local catchment school while others will apply for a place at another school and there are times when a local authority rejects a placing request, which requires an appeals process.  This is currently undertaken locally by councils, something the SNP government wants to take away and run it all through an unelected national quango. 

The SNP Scottish Government recently undertook a public consultation on the possible transfer of the functions of education appeal committees to the Scottish Tribunals which closed recently and the council’s Liberal Democrat councillors were keen to see the council oppose this centralisation move.

They asked the Director of Children and Families Service Audrey May for assurances that the council would respond to the consultation and are pleased at the department’s reply to Scottish Government (attached) which unequivocally opposes the Scottish Government proposal to hand these appeals to the Scottish Tribunals service.

Councillor for Strathmartine, Cllr Daniel Coleman, said :

“Dundee has a well-established and well-managed local system of hearing appeals over school placing requests that takes into account all concerns and points made by parents and carers."    

“It is best that these decisions are taken in Dundee by people with extensive local knowledge of our schools and it makes no sense whatsoever to centralise these appeals and have the decisions made by a Scottish Government quango."  

“The Liberal Democrat group is therefore very pleased at the education officers’ excellent response that argues against taking these appeals away from Dundee and managing them instead by an unelected quango based at Saughton House in Edinburgh.  

“We seriously question how this quango’s members would have the local knowledge of Dundee and its schools to allow for fair and well-evidenced appeals decisions.”

The council’s response to the consultation written by the Children and Families Service states :

“Dundee City Council is of the view that the existing system provides an efficient, quick and friendly service for determining appeals against refusals of placing requests."  

“The transfer of appeal committees to Scottish Tribunals is, in our view, unlikely to improve outcomes for children and young people, and their parents."  

“By transferring all aspects of the process away from local decision-making it is likely to remove local accountability; prevent agility and flexibility which is needed between schools, parents and officers in order to make decisions quickly when circumstances change for young people.“Moving appeals to Scottish Tribunals is likely to cause further delays in decision-making.”

Broughty Ferry Liberal Democrat councillor Craig Duncan added :

“The Dundee Liberal Democrat Group feels strongly that the current local system is efficient and cost effective and is consistent with the principle of community empowerment locally here in Dundee.    We are frankly completely tired of the SNP’s continual drive to take away local decision-making and centralise everything away from local communities." 

“It is difficult to argue that there were any advantages to local communities from previous SNP centralisation such as policing services.   Apart from this attempt at taking away school placing appeals from local decision-making, the SNP is also currently trying to centralise care services into a National Care Service, a disastrous policy that is already seeing costs soaring and it looks like may cost up to £1.3 billion to deliver over the next five years – a disaster for both care services and public finances."   

“We feel the days of the SNP’s fixation on taking away local services and running everything nationally by unelected quangos should be over."  

“Ultimately the SNP Government proposal to  create a centralised school places appeals system could have a detrimental effect on children locally and nationally and we are therefore pleased at the City Council’s opposition to such a move.”