| SELB Chairman Moira Alexander said: “When it met last week, Board members indicated that they were reluctantly prepared to agree to savings of the order of £6.75m and I was requested to seek a meeting with the Education Minister or the Secretary of State.
“ The purpose of the meeting was to seek an additional £500,000 to enable the Board to agree a scheme for the incoming financial year.
“I indicated I was able to meet the Minister at any time as were Board officers. Members were extremely unhappy that the Minister had not met Board representatives. Officers have made representation to the Department of Education at the highest level. However, given the lack of a reasonable response from the Minister and the Department to the request for the £500,000 additional funding, the Board decided that it was not prepared to adopt the proposed spending plan.
“Officers are to continue to make representation to the Department of Education and will report to the Board when it meets again at its scheduled meeting on March 24 when the financial scheme will be discussed further.”
|
