Fife Council’s education spokesperson Councillor Bryan Poole has appealed to the local authority’s SNP group leaders to “lay-off” education officials as they progress plans proposing the closure of seven primary schools in Fife.
Mr Poole has written to the leader and deputy leader of the SNP group on Fife Council Councillor Peter Grant and Councillor Brian Goodall after he said a “shameful new low” was reached during discussions on the sustainable school estate.
At last week’s executive committee in Glenrothes, councillors discussed a forthcoming consultation on the proposed closure of Wellwood, Crombie, Pitcorthie, Tanshall, Rathillet, New Gilston and Dunino primaries.
The committee was asked to consider documents setting out evidence supporting the proposals, with 13 out of the 15 councillors present voting to approve the reports and move forward to consultation.
Mr Grant and Mr Goodall called for the documents to be called in for scrutiny but Fife Council leader Alex Rowley gave an assurance that approval did not rule out scrutiny.
Mr Poole said: “At the executive committee meeting this week a new low was reached.
“Mr Grant accused the education officials involved in compiling the reports of effectively lying by openly accusing them of producing ‘wilfully misleading’ reports in my view that is just a weasel way of accusing someone of lying.
“Mr Goodall was no better, repeatedly using the phrase: ‘I am very suspicious of that answer/explanation,’ effectively saying: ‘I don’t believe what you are saying.’
“I said at the meeting that the behaviour and use of words was shameful and I stand by that. It is no way for councillors to behave, especially experienced councillors holding leadership positions.
“Previously, we have had an SNP councillor accuse education officials of bringing forward proposals ‘made up on the back of a fag packet’ which, given the amount of information that has been put into the public domain, is plainly ridiculous.
“But party councillors tend to take their lead from their group leaders and I am asking Mr Grant and Mr Goodall to rethink how they are framing their approach to the issue of trying to move towards a more sustainable school estate.
“I am also calling on them to issue an apology to the education officials they maligned at the executive committee and that apology should be issued publicly on the basis that they made their comments in public at the executive committee.
“I sincerely hope they are big enough to do as I request, otherwise this will be pursued more formally.”
Responding yesterday on behalf of the SNP group, Mr Grant said: “During the meeting, I made comments which I intended to direct at the politicians who run Fife Council. As soon as I realised that I had in fact referred to council officers, I withdrew my remarks.
“Everyone who had heard my earlier comments also heard me withdrawing them. I also immediately emailed the officers concerned to apologise for my error.
“Mr Poole is well aware that having realised my mistake, I corrected it immediately. He has chosen to withhold this information from his press statement.
“My constituents are telling me that the case for closing their school is wrong. It’s based on statements that are misleading and in some cases, completely inaccurate.
“The administration councillors who voted for it last week, including Mr Poole, must take full responsibility for this.
“It’s disappointing but perhaps not surprising that in a ham-fisted attempt to divert attention away from the administration’s misleading school closure documents, their education spokesperson has subjected SNP councillors to a personal attack, which is in itself seriously misleading.”