Highland Council ‘too quick to axe PSA posts’
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THERE was dismay today at the news that just six months after controversially axing dozens of pupil support assistants and reducing the hours of many more Highland Council is hiring 14 new ones.
The council revealed in May that 63 full-time equivalent pupil support assistant (PSA) posts would go, sparking outrage among parents and councillors who feared it would disadvantage all children.
Critics said the move would hit those in direct need of extra support and force teachers to take on more of a support role at the expense of “mainstream” pupils.
It has now been suggested that poor working conditions are making it hard for them to recruit where there are still vacancies.
SNP Councillor Kirsteen Currie has hit out at the latest recruitment drive, claiming the way wages are worked out means staff in some cases will be effectively paid below the minimum wage.
The advertised posts are in a variety of locations, with hours ranging from 10 to 27 hours a week and with an annual salary ranging from £4568 to £14,158.
The contracts are all for 39 weeks per year and are fixed-term to July 2, leading some to fall beneath the Scottish Living Wage of £9 if worked out on a full annual basis.
Cllr Currie said: “What particularly bothers me is that these positions do not meet the Scottish Living Wage of £9 per hour which, in many cases, is actually still not enough to support someone living in a remote rural community in the Highlands.
“I find it incomprehensible that Highland Council, one of the biggest employers in the Highlands, is offering positions that are so poorly paid, in return for providing a lifeline to many families and young people.”
She has written to John Finlayson, chairman of the council’s care, learning and housing committee, to ask “why there are so many positions suddenly available and why they are being offered on such poor employment terms.”
GMB union representative Paul Macpherson said: “What I know is that they are struggling to attract candidates because of the poor conditions – particularly in terms of offering fixed-term contracts to July 2020.”
A primary school support assistant with more than 30 years experience also spoke anonymously to the Inverness Courier saying that staff morale was at a low and children were suffering.
Last year, she said, a third of support staff were cut from the school where she works.
“It has been a terrible time for everyone, but at the end of the day it is the pupils in the school who are suffering,” she said.
“Pupils who have been assessed as needing support are not getting what they need.
“Children are now going to high school in large numbers who are not competent in reading and writing.
“We might not have degrees, but we know how to work with children with disabilities such as autism – teachers do not have the same knowledge.
“There is a meeting on November 27, to talk to us, but it is a year too late.
“No one feels secure in their job any longer. We do not feel safe.”
Inverness parent Carrie Watts, whose sons have ASN and who has been campaigning against the cuts since they were announced, said: “As with everything we’ve seen so far there is a chasm of disconnect between what the schools actually need and what the council will admit to them needing in their “redesign” plan.
“There is also a disconnect between the critical importance of these positions and the pay and the security that is being offered to those who fill them.
“The shockingly low rate of pay and the lack of job security for such valuable staff members is an insult to those people and the service they provide to our children.”
A spokesperson for Highland Council said: “We are currently recruiting to PSA posts for a number of reasons, such as to cover secondments, maternity leaves and some resignations. We also require to recruit to posts where a Head Teachers has made a decision to use specific funding for a PSA post to raise numeracy and literacy. We are not recruiting to posts where we have previously redeployed staff to other posts.
“The Council does pay above the Scottish Living Wage rate, with the PSA grade starting at £10.18 per hour, which is well above the Scottish Living Wage rate The salary in job adverts is shown as annual salary, based on part time hours and terms time working. The Council is committed to paying all staff including apprentices an hourly rate at least equivalent to the Scottish Living Wage rate.
“Fixed term contacts are often used for PSA posts for a particular school session as staff requirements based on pupil needs can vary from year to year. Terms and conditions offered to staff on fixed term contracts are the same as those for permanent staff, which is a legal requirement.
