Dance pupils fear final curtain

However, Glasgow University, which owns the building, has told the council the current lease has to come to an end because it intends to “dispose” of the building.

As a result, council officials have conducted a wider review of accommodation, which could lead to a cut in the number of pupils who receive funding.

Last night, parents said that would effectively mean the end of their involvement with the school, because they did not want their children travelling.

John Anderson, from Falkirk, whose son Duncan, 14,

attends the school, said he would not be happy with his child commuting.

“Duncan would have to leave the house at 7am to get there on time and, because they tend to dance after school, he would not get back until about 8pm, which is unacceptable, particularly as he would still have homework to do,” he said.

“I don’t think it is safe to have someone wandering through Glasgow at night.

“The school prides itself on being the only specialist dance school in Scotland, but if they close the halls of residence they are restricting entry and I don’t think it could continue to be called the Dance School Of Scotland.”

A spokesman for Glasgow City Council said delivering the residential service came at a “high cost” and some changes had to be made in the current financial climate.

The city currently pays £450,000 a year for accommodation allowances.

The council has already approached the Scottish Government to ask for funding to help pay for a new residential block at the school, but had “indications” none would be forthcoming.

A spokesman said: “There is a high cost to deliver the residential service, which is largely to the benefit of pupils from other local authority areas.

“The proposals could see a scaling back of the accommodation payments on the basis of the location of the pupils – there are some from more remote areas who would need to have residential accommodation, but others in closer areas who may not.

“Given the financial pressures we are under, one of the things we have to consider is whether it is appropriate to spend sums of money on pupils we are educating on behalf of other local authorities.”

The spokesman also said the Scottish Government’s removal of ring-fenced funding under the concordat was also partly to blame.

Previously, Government money for accommodation was protected, but under the concordat all money now goes into general local authority budgets, where other priorities may be seen as more pressing.

However, James Dornan, leader of the SNP group at Glasgow City Council, criticised the suggestion.

“It is disappointing that Glasgow is using the concordat to disguise the fact it is cutting funding to these pupils,” he said.

“Glasgow is still being given the same amount of money from the Scottish Government and, if the council is making a decision based on budget priorities, it should stand up and say so.”

The Dance School Of Scotland is the country’s only fully-funded centre of excellence for vocational dance and musical theatre. Dance and musical theatre professionals provide expert teaching and training.

Entry to the school is by audition.

Students at the Dance School receive specialist tuition and also take part in the mainstream curriculum of the associated secondary school.

The impact of the Concordat

Education

Teachers and headteachers have warned that education will suffer under the new funding arrangements. School Leaders Scotland, which represents secondary headteachers, said removal of ring-fencing would hit the drive to reduce class sizes, the number of clerical and administrative staff and will mean a reduction in guidance teachers.

It also said some courses, such as Advanced Higher, could be scrapped.

Kinship and free care

Councils said they may not be able to afford to pay new allowances to “kinship” carers because their budgets

under the concordat are not large enough to foot the bill. Hundreds of carers, such as grandparents looking after grandchildren because their parents are not able to do so, face being told they will not receive crucial financial help to ease their burden.

The concordat also may have implications for Scotland’s free personal care for the elderly, with an Audit Scotland report warning that projections of the cost of the policy were inadequate.

Help the Aged Scotland is concerned that removing ring-fencing under the agreement will allow councils to pick and choose what they offer to the elderly in future.

Charities

Charities across Scotland fear that removing ringfencing jeopardises the future of vital voluntary services.

Almost three in four health charities have said they face closure, partly through delayed or reduced funding as a result of the deal.

Other charities that have relied on

the now-defunct New Future Fund, providing around £3m a year, were told they could not apply for funding under the replacement Fairer Scotland Fund until last summer.

Bodies such as the Aberlour Child Care Trust and the Salvation Army have given staff redundancy notices.

Environment

Green groups are worried that they, too, will lose out on cash as councils are forced to make tough choices on which services to fund.

Environmentalists believe that local authorities are more likely to award money to concrete facilities like new schools than to supporting green projects.

The Royal Environmental Health Institute of Scotland, which represents environmental health officers, has warned that the success of Scotland’s smoking ban could be in danger because funding for enforcing the

legislation is now at risk.