A leading Dundee councillor has said he could not support the council’s budget because it is “gambling” with the city’s education services.
Councillors approved £23 million of cuts and savings on Thursday night, including reductions to the supply teacher budget.
Labour group education spokesman Laurie Bidwell said the administration had been able to make the saving because of low demand for supply teachers last year.
But he warned: “In relation to the supply teacher budget, you have cut back on this and gamble that there will be no increase in demand such as a flu epidemic or an increase in staff on maternity and paternity leave that will increase demand for supply teachers in the next year.
“You are, in my mind, misleading people in Dundee when you claim this will make no difference. In the current year schools have been unable to spend this budget because of the lack of supply staff caused largely by the national shortage of teachers.
“If, as the Holyrood Government tell us that they have at long last sorted out the lack of training places for teachers, we might have the potential supply teachers to employ next year but not the budget in our schools to pay for this.”
Mr Bidwell said the council was making “short term cuts” which would inflict “long-term damage” on pupils.
He, like all his Labour colleagues and independent councillor Ian Borthwick, abstained from a vote on the budget.
A Labour amendment proposing a decision be deferred until the Scottish Government had responded to a demand for more cash was not heard after finance convener Willie Sawers refused to allow it to be discussed.
SNP councillor John Alexander said that proposition was a bigger gamble than anything included in the budget.
He said: “Labour seems to say we are gambling on a budget which we have to set. The elephant in the room facing the opposition seems to be this: their colleagues in Fife set their budget with 2,000 jobs losses will the Labour group be coming out to condemn them?”
Meanwhile, union leaders in Dundee say industrial action is a possibility over potential job losses and changes to terms and conditions of workers.
Drew Duffy, of the GMB union, said: “Industrial action is a very strong possibility as we find ways to fight these draconian cuts which will affect all aspects of life in Dundee.
“For too long the people of Dundee have taken what the council has thrown at them but this budget is going too far
“We will now be considering our next moves. This could involve industrial action and if union members consider strike action is appropriate then that will happen.”