SCOTTISH GOVERNMENT ANNOUNCE £50 MILLION PACKAGE TO IMPROVE ATTAINMENT

Published date : 12 June, 2020

MSP for Almond Valley Angela Constance has said pupils living in West Lothian's most deprived communities will benefit from targeted funding from the Attainment Scotland Fund to help close the poverty-related attainment gap.

West Lothian Council will receive a £256,484 investment from the Scottish Government to support pupils from deprived backgrounds.

To help mitigate the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, schools and local authorities will have flexibility to redirect some of this funding from existing plans to best support the most vulnerable and disadvantaged families, with a continued focus on equity in education.

Commenting, Ms Constance said:

“The Scottish Government has put closing the poverty-related attainment gap front and centre of its plans to improve education.

“This latest funding boost for West Lothian demonstrates the Scottish Government’s ambition to transform our schools and ensure that every young person gets the chance to succeed in life, regardless of their background.

“The Education Secretary, John Swinney, has also handed councils the flexibility to use this funding to help respond to the coronavirus pandemic so no child gets left behind.

“There’s still a lot to do in reducing poverty and inequality in Scotland – but universal benefits like free school meals for our youngest pupils, free prescriptions and free higher education are helping keep more money in the pockets of hard working families here in West Lothian.”

ENDS

Notes:

The Attainment Scotland Fund was established to support the Scottish Attainment Challenge in 2015. This is a £750 million commitment over the course of this parliamentary term. The Attainment Scotland Fund is a targeted initiative focused on supporting pupils in the local authorities of Scotland with the highest concentrations of deprivation. The nine 'Challenge Authorities' are Glasgow, Dundee, Inverclyde, West Dunbartonshire, North Ayrshire, Clackmannanshire, North Lanarkshire, East Ayrshire and Renfrewshire.

The Schools Programme supports schools outwith these Challenge Authorities. These schools have been identified on the basis of supporting a significant proportion of pupils and families from communities which are facing some of the greatest challenges across Scotland.

Breakdown of funding provided to Challenge Authorities:

Local Authority	2020/21 LA ASF Allocations
Clackmannanshire	£1,571,821
Dundee	£6,223,466
East Ayrshire	£3,762,790
Glasgow	£8,050,000
Inverclyde	£3,467,107
North Ayrshire	£5,767,252
North Lanarkshire	£7,478,859
Renfrewshire	£4,558,000
West Dunbartonshire	£2,043,815
Total	£42,923,110

Breakdown of funding provided via the Schools’ Programme:

Local Authority	2020/21 LA Level ASF Allocations
Aberdeen City	£631,766
Argyll & Bute	£23,892
Dumfries & Galloway	£137,343
Edinburgh	£845,595
Falkirk	£272,500
Fife	£1,003,921
Highland	£1,193,340
Scottish Borders	£173,528
South Ayrshire	£399,523
South Lanarkshire	£1,963,488
Stirling	£181,803
West Lothian	£256,424
Total	£7,083,123

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SCOTTISH GOVERNMENT ANNOUNCE £50 MILLION PACKAGE TO IMPROVE ATTAINMENT

SCOTTISH GOVERNMENT ANNOUNCE £50 MILLION PACKAGE TO IMPROVE ATTAINMENT

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