During one school year, a total of 928 children and young people used the counselling service Stirling Council has proposed axing to save money.
The 2023-24 annual progress update on school counselling revealed an average of 210 counselling hours are currently being provided in Stirling schools.
All seven secondary schools in the local authority area have a counselling service, staffed by fully qualified counsellors.
Counselling is also made available in primary schools, to children aged 10 or over.
88% of Stirling locals against axing school counselling
But one of Stirling Council’s suggested budget savings for the 2025-26 financial year is to withdraw £214,000 of funds ring-fenced for school counselling.
If agreed upon, the service would be completely removed from schools.
This comes at a time when young people in Scotland are the demographic most likely to report a mental health condition.
Results of a public consultation on the proposed cuts revealed that 88% of respondents disagreed with the proposal to remove school counselling funds.
Only 12% supported the idea.
Removal would go against Scottish Government ‘expectation’
The Scottish Government has provided each local council with funds annually towards implementing school counselling since 2021.
This funding has now been baselined into the annual local government finance settlement, under the umbrella of community mental health support.
In both 2023-24 and 2024-25, Stirling Council received £281,000 for this purpose.
An annual progress update on school counselling and mental health support for children stated: “There is an expectation from the Scottish Government that local authorities will continue to deliver on the policy for school counselling to be available in all secondary schools in Scotland.”
During a meeting of Stirling Council’s Children and Young People Committee on February 13, it was clarified that this government “expectation” was not a direction that must be followed.
At the same meeting, Susan McGill, SNP councillor for Stirling North, said: “I think this is an absolutely crucial service and I would hate to see any cut to it.”
Anxiety, body image and self-harm among issues for young people
Most of the school pupils using the counselling service in Stirling are girls and young women, and pupils in S3 (between 13 and 15 years old) are the most common users.
Some of the main reasons given for referrals to school counselling include anxiety, low mood, talking and feeling listened to, relationships, confidence and body image, and self-harm.
A reduction of the education psychology service is also on the table for Stirling, meaning remaining psychologists would work with an increased number of schools and nurseries.
Stirling Council says this change would result in a saving of £63,000.
The council will make a decision on the 2025-26 budget at the end of February.
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