Scottish Government and COSLA funding agreement to protect teacher numbers: FOI release

Information requested

Information regarding the government's proposed agreement with COSLA regarding the £145.5 million in funding meant to protect teacher numbers. For context, this is the proposed agreement that is a continuation of the one referenced here in a previous FOI release which was in place for previous years. The difference this year is – as has been described to me and reported widely – is that the Scottish Government and COSLA appear to need to come to an agreement on terms before that £145.5m fund can be finalised. There was talk of a deadline for COSLA to agree to the government's terms by the Summer. But this deadline has come and gone.

1. What are the full terms that the Scottish Government has proposed to COSLA?

1. By this I mean, how do individual local authorities qualify for their share of this £145.5m fund?
2. How much does each local authority stand to gain?
3. How do local authorities fall out of contention for their share of the funding? It has been suggested at different times that they will be measured against the most recent teacher census data (i.e. a comparison of 2024 and 2023), but also that some local authorities who saw teacher numbers drop in 2023 may be asked to return to their 2022 levels in order to be considered as having "maintained" teacher numbers.
4. If a local authority fails to qualify or meet the terms of the agreement, what happens to its share of the funding? For instance, it has been reported that Cabinet Secretary Jenny Gilruth suggested Glasgow City Council could forfeit its share because of plans to cut teacher numbers in the city.
5. What is the deadline for COSLA and the Scottish Government to come to an agreement?
6. What will happen to the full £145.5m earmarked for this fund if there is no agreement between COSLA and the Scottish Government?

I would also like to see all communications between the Scottish Government, Scottish Government ministers or employees, and COSLA regarding the terms of this agreement. This could include but is not limited to: The initial proposal from the government, any counterproposals from COSLA, and/or minutes from meetings discussing the proposed agreement.

Response

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Scottish Government does not have some of the information you have requested, as no agreement has yet been made on the terms of the allocation of the £145.5 million to maintain teacher numbers for this year.
This is a formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested. This exemption is not subject to the 'public interest test', so we are not required to consider if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption.

Local authorities allocation of the £145.5 million for thus year and the communication between the Scottish Government, Scottish Government ministers and COSLA regarding the terms of the initial proposal are attached at Annex A to F .

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FOI 202400434260 - Information Released - Annex A to F

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