Edinburgh Council may start running its own holiday hubs again after concerns raised over a reduced service.

Until last spring, the council-run Braidburn holiday hub provided a number of spaces for pupils with additional support needs (ASN) as well as other sites run by third-sector partners.

But at the beginning of this year council officials closed the centre without approval by councillors, reducing the programme by 78 spaces overall since last year.

Since 2023/2024, the programme has lost almost 500 spaces from its previous total of 1,720.

At this week’s education committee meeting, councillors voted to instruct officers to put together a feasibility study for the council to again start running holiday hub services.

SNP councillor Euan Hyslop, who pushed for the change, said things had come an “incredibly long way” since last year, when a complete closure of the service was floated.

He credited parents of ASN pupils for the success, and said the “lifeline service” had provided ‘joy and happiness’ for decades.

Cllr Hyslop said: “The next stage of the process in securing the long-term future of holiday hubs is vital.

“SNP councillors have asked for officers to begin work to re-establish council-run hubs following the shock closure of the Braidburn hub.

“We will continue to call for increased capacity as a solution to lack of spaces, but we also need to ensure that any criteria that is agreed prioritises children and families who cannot access mainstream provision and for whom this service is life-saving.”

He added he was glad it now appeared politically untenable to propose cutting the service entirely.

Holiday hubs provide respite care for children with additional support needs during holiday times. They allow children to socialise when it might otherwise be difficult, and enable parents and carers to continue work during school holidays.

Labour councillor and education convener, Cllr James Dalgleish, acknowledged that the history of holiday hubs had caused frustration for families and children who benefit from the service.

But he told councillors he felt optimistic things would improve in the near future, and he felt stakeholders were working towards that.

Council officers said earlier this year that the closure of the Braidburn Hiub was necessary due to a shortage of resources to employ qualified staff.

They added that if the Braidburn hub was not closed, the Seaview respite home – which provides care for children in receipt of social work support and who have ‘critical needs’ – would have to shut.

But councillors criticised the decision, saying that officers had overstepped their bounds by electing to shut it without their approval.

The overall level of holiday hub provision for each pupil using the service has also been reduced as the number of weeks dropped from four to three this year.

This happened after the council was set to deny places to children with complex needs who could not access alternative services elsewhere.

Reducing the allocation each pupil received made sure that those children still got access to some holiday hub time.

In other years, the level of provision has been even higher, with each young person using the service receiving six weeks.

A report presented at the Tuesday meeting said that an annual increase in the holiday hub budget, in line with inflation, was being proposed.

Cllr Dalgleish said: “I know sometimes it feels like holiday hubs goes a step in the right direction, and then we have a bit of a pause or a bump in the road.

“To a certain extent, the change of criteria to three weeks could be seen as a bump in the road.

“I’m under no illusions, as we heard from the deputations, that it has caused a bit of uncertainty and frustration for some families, and we have to acknowledge that.”

By Joseph Sullivan Local Democracy Reporter

City Chambers © 2025 Martin McAdam

The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) is a public service news agency. It is funded by the BBC, provided by the local news sector (in Edinburgh that is Reach plc (the publisher behind Edinburgh Live and The Daily Record) and used by many qualifying partners. Local Democracy Reporters cover news about top-tier local authorities and other public service organisations.

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