The leader of Dundee City Council has defended its convener for children and families over claims that some of the city’s poorest youngsters would always be left behind by the education service.
Council leader John Alexander waded into the row over comments made by fellow SNP councillor Gregor Murray, who was criticised for saying children from disadvantaged backgrounds would struggle, regardless of what is put in place for them.
Labour MSP for North East Scotland Jenny Marra said the claims, made in an email exchange with local MP Stewart Hosie about child poverty and its impact on pupil performance, were “very worrying” and Councillor Murray should re-think the convener’s role.
However, Mr Alexander said the criticism was unwarranted and insisted Councillor Murray’s statement was “factually accurate”.
“What utter drivel to criticise a politician for speaking the truth and identifying the wider issue of poverty as a key concern and barrier to people achieving,” he said.
“At no point does Councillor Murray suggest that he is complacent and is not seeking to address issues of poverty.
“We need to have an open and honest conversation. Pathetic political point scoring does us all a disservice, not least the young people that Gregor is wanting to assist.
“Ask a teacher, Gregor is on the money. We need to address all of the issues that prevent our young people reaching their full potential, education is only one part.”
In the disputed email exchange, Councillor Murray had said: “One of the biggest challenges we face in Dundee is poverty. We know that for a number of children in the city, no matter how much we improve education and the facilities, they will still struggle.
“The statistics show that for many of these children when they start school at P1 they are 15-18 months behind their peers developmentally. By this I mean they are behind in speech and other behaviours.”
Ms Marra said the comments would be unacceptable to people working in schools and nurseries and that public services across Dundee “must be for everyone”.
A report by the End Child Poverty Coalition found Dundee had one of the worst rates of child poverty in Scotland, with more than 8,000, or 28%, of children growing up below the poverty line.
Dundee City Council received around £5 million from the Scottish Government last year in an effort to close the attainment gap and has introduced arts projects and speech and language therapists in some of the city’s most deprived schools.
