Falkirk Council: Second head of education to be appointed to cope with demand

Children’s services is by far the biggest department in the council, with a budget of nearly £250 million – 58 per cent of the council’s net budget. And it is expected to take a share of cuts that will need to be made for the council to balance its books over the next five years.

At a recent meeting of Falkirk Council, chief executive Kenneth Lawrie told councillors: “Given the scale of the service, given the priorities that we are aware of and given the importance of that service for our communities, the scale of change required, and indeed the scale of savings that will be required, we need to think what the best way of structuring the service is.”

Currently Children’s Services has three chief officers who report to the Director of Children’s Services: head of education, head of planning & resources and the chief social work officer.

However, the current head of planning and resources, Gary Greenhorn, is retiring in early December. And at a recent meeting of Falkirk Council, the chief executive said this was a good opportunity to review the situation.

Mr Lawrie told councillors he could not consider reducing the management posts as they were needed to face “the challenges that lie ahead, both in terms of the financial position and transformation, whilst ensuring a continued focus on attainment”.

Mr Lawrie added: “When you benchmark with other local authorities of a similar size, having two heads of education is not uncommon at all.”

He added that the split between the two roles has not yet been decided and assured councillors there would be no additional spend due to the changes.

In the most recent council management shake-up, in March 2021, leisure services transferred from Falkirk Community Trust into education, as it is expected that schools will be used to replace many community facilities.

This will also change, however, and all sport and leisure facilities will now transfer to Place Services, by the end of December.