Scotland's largest teaching union has accused West Dunbartonshire Council (WDC) of failing to restore teaching numbers, despite being given government funding.
The Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) has declared a dispute with the local authority over money which was given to them to restore their number of teachers.
The union claim the council has failed to use additional funding from the Scottish Government to restore teacher numbers, which have been cut by over 60 since 2023.
Mick Dolan, EIS Local Association Secretary, says discussions so far seeking to resolve the dispute have been unsuccessful.
He said, “I spoke at the council budget meeting in March, following on from private meetings with various councillors, including the council leader.
"At every meeting, the council denied that they had been given any additional funding from the Scottish Government for additional teachers to be employed or for numbers to be maintained.
“At the budget meeting my assertion that the Council had been given £2.8M in March for the year ending and would receive a further £3.5m for this financial year was denied and corrected by officials to state that they had only been given an additional £700k which they wouldn’t use to increase teacher numbers.”
The union has warned that the dispute will continue and that members are prepared to take industrial action to ensure the additional funding is used for its intended purpose.
A spokesperson for the council insists that the council only received £2.6m in 2024/25 form the Scottish Government and a further £700k in 2025/26.
They said: "We continue to invest heavily in education, spending £134m in 2024/25 - a 20.7% increase on the £111m the Scottish Government recommends for delivery in West Dunbartonshire.
"All of the £700,000 funding received in 2025/26 was used to support teachers' pay as it was intended.
"We are hopeful for continued positive discussions on this matter."
Further talks are being requested by the EIS to resolve the dispute.
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