Thursday June 25th 2026
West Dumbartonshire Council headquarters
Written by Local Democracy Reporter, Catherine Hunter
Concerns over how the reduction in funding from the Scottish Government from £2.05 million to £850,000 will impact the attainment gap across West Dunbartonshire have been raised.
During this morning’s education committee a report was presented to members which showed that the Strategic Equity Fund (SEF) has been subjected to a tapered annual reduction since 2022 meaning a drop in income for educational services.
Funding, which has been used to appoint offers and experienced school leaders, has dropped from £2.05 million in 2020/21 to £851,000.
The money has ensured that work to improve the attainment gap while improving literacy and numeracy skills, has allowed West Dunbartonshire council to improve education in its schools and other establishments.
It has not yet been confirmed what funding will be made available for the council during the 2026/27 financial year.
During the meeting, Councillor William Rooney said: “I am concerned that there is no additional funding and there has been no confirmation that we are not getting funding.
“We are on a cliff edge and we are not really sure what is going on and the report states that allocation has fallen from £2 million down to £850,000 – that’s a lot of money and that means there are a lot of programmes and staff that we won’t be able to support when tackling the poverty related attainment gap.
“Do we know what programmes and staff we are going to lose?”
The report states schools are currently developing plans for session 2026/27, to deliver targeted equity interventions while taking account of the ongoing uncertainty regarding funding beyond 2027.
Julie McGrogan, Senior Education Officer, said: “There are a range of staff that are additional staff funded through this additionality.
“There are work and projects benefiting from that additionality so there would be a scaling back in some of those targeted interventions and some of the approaches we are using.”
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