Plans to change how parents can appeal decisions over where their child goes to school should be “consigned to the dustbin of history”, it has been claimed.
Glasgow City Council is concerned a Scottish Government proposal to hand over school placement appeals to the Scottish Tribunal Service would be unfair, as wealthier families could hire lawyers.
In a response to the government, council officials said the tribunal process would be more “legalistic”. One official told councillors there were concerns over “fairness”, adding parents could be put off from pursuing appeals.
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And councillors have now criticised the plan at an education committee meeting, describing it as “nonsense” and “bonkers”.
Cllr Bill Butler, Labour, said: “I think the tribunal service has got enough to do without this additional burden. It’s also worrying that there seems to be a drive towards centralisation for centralisation’s sake.
“More legalistic is a nice way of putting it. I worry that to make it more legalistic, and thus more bureaucratic, means that there is a greater possibility that there is an unfairness.”
He added: “I think this is an idea drawn up on the back of some civil servant’s fag packet. I think it should be consigned to the dustbin of history. I do hope there are second thoughts on this, in a sense, I think it’s nonsense.”
The Scottish Government is holding a consultation on whether Scottish Tribunals should take over the appeals as it has said there have been concerns over impartiality.
Currently in Glasgow, appeals are heard by a panel either online or in person and include parents, education officials and councillors.
A council official said the council believes the present system works well and is “responsive to our local context and its needs”.
In a report to the committee, officials added appeals “should remain with local authorities”. “We believe that the present appeals system is fair, equitable and responsive to the needs of our city.
“The present appeal system ensures that parents and carers, regardless of their economic or social circumstances, have the same access to appeals.”
Cllr Fiona Higgins, Labour, said she feels families attending appeals are already often “overburdened” and “struggling to make life work”.
“They have shift patterns to manage,” she added. “This child in this primary school, this child might end up in that secondary school. They are bouncing between places and relying on family for childcare.
“I cannot imagine them going through the appeals process and going through a legal approach instead. It further concerns me that a lot of the parents who are going through the process already do find it confusing to understand what is going on.”
Cllr Ricky Bell, SNP, described the planned change as “bonkers”. However, he also had concerns over the current process.
“I’ve sat on a few panels that I don’t think we handled very well,” he added. “I don’t think the treatment of the families was particularly great.”
He said the process should be made “less legalistic and not more”.
Cllr Blair Anderson, Greens, said he agreed entirely with council officials’ response. “I think we need to be reducing barriers to education and the processes around education,” he added.
However, he said parents can find the current process “intimidating” and said it isn’t “always the most child friendly”.
The council official said one of the benefits of the consultation had been it had “encouraged us to focus on getting better”. She said they had suggested providing an opportunity “for parents and carers to feedback on the process”.
A consultation paper from the Scottish Government said concerns had emerged in research “about the current system and a perception of a lack of impartiality”.
It added the change could “improve access to justice by placing responsibility for this function under a single body with increased rigour, transparency, judicial independence and objectivity”.
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