A COUNCIL that suggested extra cash to close the school attainment gap could be spent on swimming lessons has been warned off.

John Swinney, the Education Secretary, said the move by Dundee City Council would be “unacceptable”.

Under the Scottish Government’s £120 million Pupil Equity Fund (PEF) headteachers are given power over how they spend the money.

However, guidance stipulates the funding cannot be used to pay for initiatives that are being axed because of wider cuts.

Earlier this week SNP-led Dundee announced plans to cut school swimming lessons with a spokesman suggesting schools could use PEF money instead.

Mr Swinney told the Scottish Parliament’s education committee civil servants had been in touch with the council to highlight the rules.

Labour MSP Johann Lamont said: “I’m sure you would agree with me, you would be concerned if pupil equity funding was being used to substitute and fund something that would have been resourced through the mainstream in the past, but has been cut?

“Do you think that’s an acceptable use of pupil equity funding?”

Mr Swinney said he did not and that officials had spoken to the local authority in advance of the meeting.

He said: “The view that was taken within Dundee was that to obtain a 20-minute swimming lesson young people were missing out on learning and teaching for two hours and at a time when we are pressing to enhance learning and teaching, the judgement was that that was not the best way.

“What is not acceptable - and we’ve made this clear to Dundee City Council and this point is accepted this morning - is if a school wants to use pupil equity funding to go and do that.

“I hope that helps to put into context where this issue has come from, but also what the judgement would be about the utilisation of pupil equity funding for essentially a replacement of a service that was there before.”

A council spokesman said they never intended to use PEF as a way of paying for school swimming lessons - or to replace any core funded activity.

He said: “We have not cut any budgets surrounding these lessons and are now looking at ways of providing a better form of swimming programme for primary pupils.

“A working group is now considering how to take this forward and a report will come back to council in due course.”

Later, Mr Swinney appeared to soften his stance on testing five-year-olds.

Under current arrangement schools are using standardised tests in P1 to help gauge early progress of pupils, but Mr Swinney he was “listening” to concerns that children were too young.