South Lanarkshire councillors are calling on the Scottish Government for extra funding for summer clubs.
Chair of the council’s Education Committee, Lynsey Hamilton is urging the government to reconsider cuts to its funding for summer holiday clubs programme.
The Labour councillor wrote to the Cabinet Secretary for Education Jenny Gilruth, pointing out that government funding has dropped by £5 million.
And the council has recently heard that the grant from the government for summer funding could be more than half based on last year’s programme.
Councillor Hamilton said: “This is totally unacceptable. We have had to substantially cut our Summer provision this year due to the SNP Governments cuts. What is even more unacceptable is the officers in the Council have no official confirmation from the Government as we speak, less than two weeks before the Programme is due to start.
“The SNP Government continuously go on about reducing child poverty and the poverty related attainment gap as one of their top priorities on the one hand, and on the other cut funding that will go a long way in achieving that. Last year we provided a hot meal, activities and learning to the children most in need in the area for six weeks. Not only that, it provided a means in which parents could work without having to worry about costly childcare. The funding rumoured to be proposed for this year will go nowhere near that.
“Councils are at the bare bones as it is with years upon years of funding cuts. The children and young people of Scotland deserve better.”
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “The Scottish Government is supporting local authorities to deliver summer programmes by providing £4 million in funding to mitigate some of the costs and alleviate financial pressures associated with their delivery.
“This funding will support the transition from previous one off investments in summer programmes which were targeted at families impacted by the pandemic, towards future investment focussed on building a year-round system of school age childcare and follows on from the First Minister’s announcement in April to invest £15 million to design, test and build a year-round system.
“Ministers understand the pressures many families are currently facing and this funding is in addition to the £21.75 million provided for free school meal alternatives for eligible families across Scotland during the school holidays.”
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