Whilst awaiting an apology, I have taken time to reflect and consider the comments made about me in the Dundee Courier and Evening Telegraph by Mrs Fordyce, the Education Convener of the City Council. I now recognise that an apology from her will not be forthcoming. I think this is regrettable.I also think that such an outburst about me was an attempt to divert attention from the fact that she had been losing the debate at the Education Committee meeting on Monday 28 June. After that meeting, I was approached by several Councillors, including a member from the SNP Group, who expressed their disapproval of the manner in which Mrs Fordyce had chaired the meeting.
It is very important that this matter is put behind us. In the next few months the Council will be considering the £15 million worth of cuts caused by the shortfall in the settlement from the Scottish Government.
A taste of things to come is currently evident in my own ward, where there is a rushed consultation into the proposed move of Eastern Primary School to the old Grove Academy site. This change will, it is claimed, produce savings in overheads and a capital receipt for the Council from the eventual sale of the Eastern Primary School site. It also disguises the fact that the council no longer needs additional offices in Grove, because it plans considerable reductions in council staff in order to cut costs. Too much is at stake to divert any more time from the real issues and choices affecting our children and communities.
