Borders parents stage protest

Parents believe their children are suffering

Angry parents from the Borders took their protest against local authority education cuts to the Scottish Executive in Edinburgh.

The parents, who all have children with special needs, believe they are being made to pay for a shortfall in budgets.

Borders Council put plans on hold for a new facility to help children with autism after it uncovered a £4m overspend in the budget earlier this year.

Cuts agreed to help reduce the deficit mean that the new facility will not be operational for at least another year.

John Christie met with civil servants

The parents' demonstration outside Victoria Quay in Leith was timed to coincide with a meeting between executive education officials and the council's head of lifelong learning.

Parents spokesman Graham McIver said after the meeting that the issue would not go away.

John Christie held crisis talks with senior civil servants at 1100 BST in a bid to get permission for an emergency transfer of funds within the education budget.

If the executive agrees to the move, Borders Council will be able to use £500,000 from the education excellence fund to bail out other services.

The need for radical cutbacks was sparked in June when officials at the authority realized they had overspent by almost £4m.

Earlier this month the council agreed to slash £1.5m from this year's education budget to reduce the shortfall.

Service cuts

The measures included a freeze on recruitment in some areas, a reduction in grants and bursaries, changes in school transport arrangements and a reduction in repairs and maintenance.

Millions have been slashed from Borders Council's education budget

But the move that angered parents was the delay to a new facility for local children with autism.

Mr Christie says the existing service provision will not be cut but parents remain angry that their children will have to wait for at least a year before the new facility is opened.

The have also protested about cuts in the provision of auxiliary support for youngsters with special needs which mean that services will not be at the same level as last session.

Although Mr Christie concedes this point he argues that the reduction was necessary to bring the overall education budget back into line.