A SENIOR Caithness councillor has apologised to classroom assistants for the time it has taken to end the uncertainty over their jobs.
Wick councillor Bill Fernie, who chairs the Highland Council’s education, culture and sport committee, said sorry this week after a colleague claimed the issue had been handled "very badly" and in a "shambolic" way.
The SNP group’s education spokesman, Councillor Bren Gormley, said the proposal to axe the 344 posts, including 42 in Caithness, was "flawed" and led to a year of anxiety for staff.
"What schools, parents and pupils have been put through over the past year is bad enough, but the strain on classroom assistants and their families has been intolerable," said Mr Gormley, who called on the Wick councillor to apologise for what happened.
In response, Mr Fernie said: "I am sorry the staff had to wait for a long time for a resolution of this matter."
But he stressed that a cross-party working group had undertaken "an extremely detailed review" which involved teachers, classroom assistants, learning support auxiliaries and management.
"The SNP did not take part in it so any resolution of the matter is no thanks to them. They are just making political capital out of it," Mr Fernie told the John O’Groat Journal.
He rejected the criticism made by Mr Gormley about the way the situation was handled and pointed out that the majority of the staff, who will become pupil support assistants, will get a higher rate of pay, although their range of duties will be broader. Mr Fernie said the unions had been involved in the process and a solution had been found which was "satisfactory to everyone".
"I am sorry if staff faced any anxiety in the past year but we were required to make major savings to our budget and cutting the classroom assistants’ posts was one of the proposals," he said.
"There was a feeling we should look at this in greater detail and the cross-party working group was set up. It undertook a very detailed review – the first since 1999 – and did some sterling work."
He added: "I refute completely any suggestion the matter was handled very badly or in a shambolic way.
"I am pleased to say the review has given us a way forward. Everyone has worked well together to achieve a satisfactory outcome. The council will be asked to agree an increase in the budget at a meeting in February."
Mr Fernie said that when the new structure comes into being the staff will be better trained and the pupils will receive "a very good standard of service".
He said he would be speaking to education director Hugh Fraser before replying to Mr Gormley.
The SNP councillor pointed out that staff only found out through the press that their jobs were to be saved – a situation Mr Fernie described as "unfortunate".
He said: "The story broke before we had the chance to notify the staff involved directly of these changes."
Mr Gormley said the SNP refused to take part in the cross-party review as it was "a track covering exercise". "I know of classroom assistants who left their jobs through the uncertainty of this debacle and many more who were left unable to plan for the future," he said.
"The council administration handled this episode very badly and the public need to know that lessons will be learned.
"I know Bill Fernie, having worked with him before, and I believe him to be an honourable guy. That is why I think he will see that a letter of apology to those staff affected would be the least he could do."
