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Chamber and committees

Question reference: S6W-26184

  • Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
  • Date lodged: 14 March 2024
  • Current status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 26 March 2024

Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question (a) S6W-15576 by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 27 March 2023 and (b) S6W-17101 by Jenny Gilruth on 22 May 2023, whether it will provide the same information for 2022-23.


Answer

Spending data on additional support for learning (ASL) is provided below. This data is collected from local authorities via the 2022-23 Local Financial Returns (LFR). These figures show that spending on ASL by local authorities reached its highest level on record, £926m in 2022-23.

Local authorities are asked to provide this data in line with guidance to ensure returns are completed on a consistent basis to allow for a reasonable degree of comparability. However, these figures may be affected by variations in local accounting practices and education strategies. It is important to bear this in mind when making comparisons between local authorities and years.

Local authorities are asked to record all centrally funded ASL expenditure under Special Education, irrespective of where it is delivered. Decisions about prioritisation and budgets, including those for the provision of services for pupils with additional support needs, are a matter for individual councils. We recognise the challenges facing authorities in balancing their need to meet a wide range of statutory duties, local priorities and local circumstances.

Table 1 shows gross revenue expenditure on (ASL) education for 2022-23, split by Pre-Primary, Primary, Secondary and Special Education.

Table 1 – 2022-23 ASL expenditure by Local Authority (£000)

Local authority

Pre-Primary Education

Primary Education

Secondary Education

Special Education

Total

Aberdeen City

£1,103

£6,002

£6,756

£18,020

£31,881

Aberdeenshire

£0

£0

£0

£53,746

£53,746

Angus

£0

£0

£0

£13,885

£13,885

Argyll and Bute

£711

£4,211

£4,801

£3,112

£12,835

City of Edinburgh

£5,474

£26,029

£12,472

£48,983

£92,958

Clackmannanshire

£0

£0

£0

£13,636

£13,636

Dumfries and Galloway

£0

£0

£0

£22,609

£22,609

Dundee City

£212

£6,098

£2,709

£9,113

£18,132

East Ayrshire

£0

£0

£0

£21,246

£21,246

East Dunbartonshire

£431

£2,407

£2,157

£15,579

£20,574

East Lothian

£176

£3,091

£2,153

£12,318

£17,738

East Renfrewshire

£1,010

£1,754

£1,453

£10,656

£14,873

Falkirk

£0

£0

£0

£27,603

£27,603

Fife

£0

£0

£0

£42,578

£42,578

Glasgow City

£5,339

£17,158

£26,509

£87,332

£136,338

Highland

£0

£0

£0

£45,900

£45,900

Inverclyde

£0

£0

£0

£14,750

£14,750

Midlothian

£53

£3,162

£1,305

£15,597

£20,117

Moray

£0

£0

£0

£19,357

£19,357

Na h-Eileanan Siar

£0

£0

£0

£5,880

£5,880

North Ayrshire

£0

£0

£0

£15,008

£15,008

North Lanarkshire

£111

£11,839

£5,151

£45,229

£62,330

Orkney Islands

£124

£606

£812

£2,366

£3,908

Perth and Kinross

£350

£5,313

£4,336

£10,947

£20,946

Renfrewshire

£1,686

£5,199

£2,971

£17,142

£26,998

Scottish Borders

£0

£0

£0

£12,179

£12,179

Shetland Islands

£0

£0

£0

£8,770

£8,770

South Ayrshire

£17

£932

£663

£16,983

£18,595

South Lanarkshire

£0

£9,793

£9,361

£31,444

£50,598

Stirling

£0

£1,521

£2,809

£6,040

£10,370

West Dunbartonshire

£591

£4,477

£2,711

£12,190

£19,969

West Lothian

£0

£0

£0

£29,621

£29,621

All local authorities

£17,388

£109,592

£89,129

£709,819

£925,928

Source: Local Financial Returns – Education (LFR 01) statistical return provided by local authorities to the Scottish Government: Local government finance statistics - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

Table 2 shows the percentage of total gross revenue expenditure on education by local authorities which was accounted for by spending on additional support for learning in 2022-23.

Table 2 – 2022-23 share of education expenditure accounted for by ASL

Local authority

ASL spend as a share of education spend

Aberdeen City

13%

Aberdeenshire

14%

Angus

9%

Argyll and Bute

9%

City of Edinburgh

17%

Clackmannanshire

17%

Dumfries and Galloway

11%

Dundee City

9%

East Ayrshire

12%

East Dunbartonshire

11%

East Lothian

13%

East Renfrewshire

9%

Falkirk

12%

Fife

9%

Glasgow City

17%

Highland

13%

Inverclyde

13%

Midlothian

13%

Moray

15%

Na h-Eileanan Siar

11%

North Ayrshire

8%

North Lanarkshire

13%

Orkney Islands

9%

Perth and Kinross

10%

Renfrewshire

11%

Scottish Borders

8%

Shetland Islands

15%

South Ayrshire

12%

South Lanarkshire

11%

Stirling

7%

West Dunbartonshire

14%

West Lothian

11%

All local authorities

12%

Source: Local Financial Returns – Education (LFR 01) statistical return provided by local authorities to the Scottish Government: Local government finance statistics - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

All figures in tables 1 and 2 are based on gross expenditure on a funding basis. This means they have not been adjusted for inter/ intra authority transfers.

Table 3 shows average per-ASL pupil spending on ASL by local authority in 2022-23. More precisely, this calculation shows gross revenue expenditure on ASL in primary, secondary and special education from the local financial returns, divided by the number of pupils identified as having additional support needs recorded in the Pupil Census.

Table 3 – 2022-23 ASL spending per pupil (cash terms)

Local authority

ASL spend per ASL pupil

Aberdeen City

£3,079

Aberdeenshire

£3,040

Angus

£3,591

Argyll and Bute

£3,733

City of Edinburgh

£3,492

Clackmannanshire

£6,322

Dumfries and Galloway

£3,407

Dundee City

£2,756

East Ayrshire

£4,427

East Dunbartonshire

£4,909

East Lothian

£3,926

East Renfrewshire

£3,149

Falkirk

£3,968

Fife

£2,949

Glasgow City

£4,922

Highland

£3,419

Inverclyde

£4,410

Midlothian

£3,626

Moray

£3,907

Na h-Eileanan Siar

£5,297

North Ayrshire

£2,509

North Lanarkshire

£7,087

Orkney Islands

£3,459

Perth and Kinross

£3,381

Renfrewshire

£3,684

Scottish Borders

£2,369

Shetland Islands

£6,762

South Ayrshire

£4,072

South Lanarkshire

£3,943

Stirling

£2,495

West Dunbartonshire

£3,669

West Lothian

£2,966

All local authorities

£3,764

Sources:

 

1. Local Financial Returns – Education (LFR 01) statistical return provided by local authorities to the Scottish Government: Local government finance statistics - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

 

 

2. Pupil Census – published annually - for further details go to: Pupil census: supplementary statistics - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

 

 

Table 4 provides real terms spend per primary and secondary school pupil based on 2022-23 prices, to align with the most recent Local Government Financial Returns.

 

Table 4 – Real terms average spend per pupil, 2007-08 to 2022-23

Year

Primary Education

Secondary Education

2007-08

£6,481

£8,834

2008-09

£6,500

£8,930

2009-10

£6,483

£8,676

2010-11

£6,527

£8,612

2011-12

£6,330

£8,330

2012-13

£6,170

£8,349

2013-14

£6,030

£8,296

2014-15

£5,884

£8,296

2015-16

£5,912

£8,388

2016-17

£5,902

£8,350

2017-18

£6,032

£8,317

2018-19

£6,221

£8,518

2019-20

£6,465

£8,696

2020-21

£6,491

£8,371

2021-22

£6,993

£8,726

2022-23

£7,075

£8,766

Primary and secondary education figures are adjusted to exclude inter-authority transfers. However, this breakdown is not available for ASL spending, therefore ASL figures in Table 5 are based on gross expenditure on a funding basis. Inflation adjustments are based on HM Treasury’s 15 February 2024 GDP Deflator outturn data.

 

Sources:

1. Local Financial Returns – Education (LFR 01) statistical return provided by local authorities to the Scottish Government: Local government finance statistics - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

2. Pupil Census - published annually - for further details go to: Pupil census: supplementary statistics - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

3. GDP deflators at market prices: GDP deflators at market prices, and money GDP - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

 

Table 5 provides real terms spending specifically on ASL divided by the number of ASL pupils, based on 2022-23 prices. ASL spend is provided from 2012-13, when the data was first collected. The following figures do not represent all spending benefitting ASL pupils, who also benefit from spending incurred in delivering the wider school system.

 

Table 5 – Real terms average ASL spend per ASL pupil, 2012-13 to 2022-23

Year

ASL pupils at primary, secondary and special schools

2012-13

£5,698

2013-14

£5,238

2014-15

£4,977

2015-16

£4,575

2016-17

£4,204

2017-18

£3,992

2018-19

£3,778

2019-20

£3,607

2020-21

£3,610

2021-22

£3,748

2022-23

£3,764

ASL spending figures are based on gross expenditure on a funding basis. Inflation adjustments are based on HM Treasury’s 15 February 2024 GDP Deflator outturn data.Sources:

1. Local Financial Returns – Education (LFR 01) statistical return provided by local authorities to the Scottish Government: Local government finance statistics - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

2. Pupil Census - published annually - for further details go to: Pupil census: supplementary statistics - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

3. GDP deflators at market prices: GDP deflators at market prices, and money GDP - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)