More than 500 teaching jobs could be lost this year as a £61m squeeze on education budgets begins to bite.

More than 500 teaching jobs could be lost this year as a £61m squeeze on education budgets begins to bite.

Figures on efficiency savings released by 22 local education authorities have provoked a bitter row over whether the concordat between councils and the Scottish Government is leading to cuts in frontline staff. The figures obtained under freedom of information legislation show education budgets in Glasgow have been squeezed by £8.7m as part of the government drive to produce efficiency savings of 2% across the public sector.

For East Ayrshire the figure is £4.2m; Falkirk £3.1m; Highland £2.2m. These compare to just £400,000 in East Renfrewshire and £400,000 in West Lothian.

The figures were collated for the Labour Party by Arthur Midwinter, one of the country's leading experts on public sector finances, who claims they amount to a £61m cutback in education budgets across Scotland, including £16m on staff costs - the equivalent of the loss of 500-plus teachers in 2009/2010.

However, Education Secretary Fiona Hyslop branded the analysis as "misleading and partisan". But the figures largely tally with information currently being compiled by Scotland's largest teaching union, the Educational Institute of Scotland, whose own research via FOI responses from 15 local authorities has found that by the end of the year there will be 315 fewer teachers.

The EIS claims that across the 32 councils this would amount to between 600 and 700 teachers.

The union has already warned that cuts across the country are leading to fewer subjects, a shortage of jobs for newly qualified teachers, fewer classroom assistants and no reduction in class sizes - a key SNP pledge.

At the weekend, a report by local government body Cosla was said to describe the Scottish Futures Trust, which the government hopes to use to build a new generation of public buildings including schools, as "lacking substance" and "not in any position" to fund new projects.

Rhona Brankin, Labour's education spokeswoman, said Professor Midwinter's findings were "evidence that the concordat signed between government and councils was in tatters and was leading directly to cuts in teacher numbers".

She added: "Far from making efficiencies, councils are making straightforward cuts to their education budgets and teachers, yet again, are going to be hit hardest. Fiona Hyslop is on record saying that councils could plough back efficiencies into the education budget, but these findings show that education budgets are being cut across Scotland.

"The SNP has no commitment to education and teachers, parents and pupils across Scotland are adding their voices to the outcry over these swingeing cuts."

Ronnie Smith, EIS general secretary, said the Government's own figures showed there was a drop of just under 1000 teachers in the few years up to 2008 and that the union's own figures would have an impact on class size targets and employment prospects for newly qualified teachers.

He added: "Professor Midwinter is right about the pounds but we're seeing the service cut on the ground. Efficiencies are a euphemism for service cuts.

"What we see is pressure on class sizes and major curriculum reform being stymied."

But Ms Hyslop accused the opposition of "scaremongering". She said: "This is a misleading and partisan attack from a Labour Party policy adviser and former councillor, Arthur Midwinter.

"His estimates are meaningless as they relate to only half the story - local authorities are also making increases to education budgets, which are not included within these figures, as well as introducing efficiency savings. Labour has pushed fiddled figures like these repeatedly and each time they have been proven to be baseless scaremongering.

"We are currently providing local government with record levels of funding: £23bn for the period 2008-10.

"The latest figures show an average annual increase of 5.5% across councils' education budget."

l Leading public figures and thinkers from public life and academia will come together for a conference in Glasgow, which follows this newspaper's series of articles exploring ways of reshaping the country's public sector.

The conference, hosted by The Herald's Alf Young, takes place on Wednesday, June 17 at the Nevis Suite, at Hampden Park.

Other eminent guests lined up to appear at the one-day event, titled ReshapingScotland, include Sir John Arbuthnott, the former chairman of NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, Professor John Curtice, discussing the politics of public sector reform, and Chief Constable of Strathclyde Police, Steve House.