Issue - meetings

The Council resolved:-

to note the deputations and thank them for their contributions.

(A)       The Council received a deputation from John Murray in relation to agenda item 7.1 - School Estate Plan Annual Update 2025.

Mr Murray advised that he was speaking on behalf of the Catholic Church. He reminded Members that he had addressed the Education and Children’s Services Committee on the same issue on 17 September 2024 and Full Council on 2 October 2024, and reiterated what he had said then - it was the view of the Catholic Church that Catholic education could only be successful in Aberdeen if it was a joint enterprise based on mutual trust and respect between the Council and the Church. The Catholic Church did not want to be at loggerheads with the Council, Mr Murray wanted to avoid the acrimony from last year and to focus on the compelling case for a Catholic secondary school in Aberdeen.

Mr Murray stated that he was here because the Partnership lost the vote at committee regarding a consultation on the possibility of a Catholic secondary school in Aberdeen. He believed the Partnership lost the vote because they lost the argument, as had been the case last year, and that all of the external members present voted against the Partnership having listened to both sides of the debate. Mr Murray stressed that he had not canvassed or lobbied the external members at any point.

Mr Murray emphasised that what was currently in place with regard to Catholic education in Aberdeen was very inadequate compared to the rest of Scotland and this was not just in relation to secondary education. He noted that there were three Catholic primary schools in Aberdeen, which was one for every 6,400 Catholic children in the city; if it was reduced to two schools it would be one for every 9,600 Catholic children. Mr Murray compared those statistics to Glasgow, Edinburgh and Dundee - Aberdeen had more school aged Catholic children than Dundee yet Dundee had two Catholic secondary schools and ten Catholic primary schools.

Mr Murray referred to the consultation that had taken place last year which yielded a high level of responses, with 82% of respondents in favour of a Catholic secondary school within the city - he believed that it was a remarkable conclusion for the Council to then reject that. He added that the consultation had excluded people from Aberdeenshire and stressed that they must be included and invited to join discussions with the Council and the Catholic Church.

Mr Murray highlighted the high level of cynicism in the community which was compounded by the Council repeatedly ignoring the views of its external members. He added that there was an erroneous belief that Catholic schools were just like any other school with the exception of the religious curriculum and underlined that the many thousands of non-Catholic families in Scotland who chose to send their children to Catholic schools were seeking a distinctive ethos and educational environment, not just a different religious education curriculum. Mr Murray concluded that the onus of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5