Issue - meetings

to note the deputations and thank them for their contributions.

(A)      The Council received a deputation from John Murray in relation to agenda item 7.2 - Denominational Primary Schools.

Mr Murray thanked the Lord Provost and the Council for agreeing to hear him in relation to such an important matter. He explained that when he spoke at the Education and Children’s Services Committee on 17 September, he made the point that Catholic education in the city could only be successful if it was a joint enterprise based on mutual trust and respect between the Council and the Catholic Church, and he had moved an amendment on that basis in an attempt to work together to plan Catholic education for the benefit of all of the people of Aberdeen.

Mr Murray highlighted his positive experiences as an external member on the Education Committee for the past seven years, and acknowledged the expertise of officers and the great support he had received during that time. He therefore found it surprising and disappointing in terms of how this matter had been handled and responded to. He emphasised that the Partnership had lost the vote at the Education and Children’s Services Committee, and they had lost the argument because the facts in the report did not support the recommendations. He added that all of the external members voted for his amendment - he had not canvassed them before or during the meeting, however the Partnership had failed to persuade them to vote for the motion.

Mr Murray stated that the position of the Catholic Church was that what was in place in Aberdeen in terms of Catholic schools was inadequate, especially compared to what was in place in almost every other part of the country. He stated that Aberdeen was an international city, yet there were limited opportunities for families in terms of Catholic education, particularly with there being no Catholic secondary school, which was impossible to justify. He added that although there were three excellent Catholic primary schools in Aberdeen, this paled into insignificance compared to what was in place in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Dundee, and all three cities had Catholic secondary schools as well.

Mr Murray emphasised the need for mutual co-operation, which was the basis of his amendment - to use the 12-month pause to put people’s heads together to agree an appropriate level of provision and plan accordingly. He argued that a proper consultation needed to be carried out, particularly in terms of the possibility of a Catholic secondary school for Aberdeen, from the whole community. He stated that the figures from the last consultation should not be used as the questions were only put to parents; young people must be consulted too and the views of people from Aberdeenshire had also been excluded. Despite this, Mr Murray highlighted that 82% of respondents said they would put their children to a Catholic secondary school, yet this had been completely rejected which he found remarkable.

Mr Murray concluded that the Council could and should do much better. He noted that there  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3