Changes to Edinburgh\u2019s holiday hub scheme are a \u2018step in the right direction\u2019, but more needs to happen, according to a parent using the service and a city councillor.<\/p>\n
And they expressed concern over two pupils who were unable to access holiday hub services this summer because service providers could not accommodate their care needs.<\/p>\n
At the last meeting of the city\u2019s Education, Children and Families Committee, councillors approved changes to the services which saw 192 new places added for the summer.<\/p>\n
In addition, going forward, families will be able to access four weeks at the service, instead of three, bringing provision back to the levels experienced last year.<\/p>\n
But it will come at a cost for some pupils, with space being prioritised for students with the most advanced levels of need, and then for those from families facing poverty and other stresses.<\/p>\n
Labour councillor James Dalgleish, who convenes the committee, said he was glad more funding had been made available for the service at the council\u2019s budget meeting in February.<\/p>\n
But he also said that the demand on the service had become \u2018unsustainable\u2019 in recent years, and called for more support for the service going forward.<\/p>\n
The changes to the scheme have come after consultations between council officers and parents of additional support needs (ASN) pupils.<\/p>\n
Denise McGee-Dewar, a member of the REPAIR group which advocates for ASN pupils and their families, said the changes were a \u2018good compromise\u2019 between parents and city officials.<\/p>\n
However, she said families and pupils have faced issues this summer, including two children who had their holiday hub time cancelled due to the council being unable to handle their needs.<\/p>\n
She said: \u201cTwo families have had the allocations they were given cancelled. It was kind of a miscommunication [for one family] between the council and the provider.<\/p>\n
\u201c[The parent] is now sitting with nothing for the holidays, you can imagine how devastating that is.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd then one family went along Monday of this week, it was due to his needs, and nobody had told her that there was no place for him.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey were both refunded, but it\u2019s not about the refund, it\u2019s the child\u2019s routine getting changed. The plans that [families made] will have to change. It\u2019s been really difficult for them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cllr Dalgleish said that in \u2018isolated incidents\u2019, due to safety concerns, the council has had to \u2018make the difficult decision\u2019 to amend or revoke the holiday hub offering to a family.<\/p>\n
The scheme offers respite care to ASN pupils in Edinburgh, given them care, support and a social space over school term holidays.<\/p>\n
Ms McGee-Dewar also said that parents had faced difficulties in signing up for the holiday hubs service for the next academic year, which starts in August.<\/p>\n
The changes to the scheme means that space in the holiday hubs is being rationed in part based on the level of needs families have.<\/p>\n
Families receiving benefits, facing poverty or with a single parent are all given priority.<\/p>\n
However, in the questionnaire to sign up for holiday hubs for next year, parents were presented with a question asking if they met any of these criteria.<\/p>\n
The only option was \u2018yes\u2019, and it was mandatory, meaning parents had to check off the question if they wanted to submit the questionnaire.<\/p>\n
According to Ms McGee-Dewar, council officials said they would fix the form.<\/p>\n
SNP councillor Euan Hyslop called the changes a \u201cgreat next step\u201d, but said that more needed to be done for the service, calling on other parties to back more funding for it at the budget meeting next February.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cThis is a great next step, but there\u2019s no doubt that this is going to lead to a lot of young people losing out. I still don\u2019t think that\u2019s acceptable.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m angry about this situation. So I\u2019m putting a call out to colleagues to engage in the runup to the budget next year, because we\u2019ll always have doors open.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are a group of families with very complex additional needs, with life-limiting conditions. Medical conditions that mean this is their only opportunity, really, to play with their friends, their peers.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not nice that we\u2019re in the situation where we\u2019re having to decide who gets and who doesn\u2019t get.\u201d<\/p>\n
He continued to say that ASN parents he had spoken to were \u2018broadly\u2019 supportive of the council\u2019s engagement over the past few months \u2013 but said that it came off the back of a year of officers \u2018almost ignoring parents\u2019.<\/p>\n
And, he said that some of the children who would be excluded from the holiday hubs based on the newly introduced criteria had been using the service for years.<\/p>\n
Cllr Dalgleish said: \u201cIf councillors are giving the impression that Holiday Hubs can simply be expanded through a large increase in funds at budget time, then they are not being totally clear with the public. Much more work is needed on this issue, and I am committed to doing that.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is fundamentally an issue around locating skilled people who can provide this service, potential cuts to our council budget in the near future will also make our task more difficult.<\/p>\n
\u201cI will, alongside many other councillors, be making the case for increasing support for Holiday Hubs, as I know how valuable this service is.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to thank all the parents and carers who have given up their time to share invaluable thoughts and views on holiday hub support which has got us to this positive point.\u201d<\/p>\n
By Joseph Sullivan Local Democracy Reporter<\/p>\n