Education chiefs have confirmed that East Renfrewshire’s headteachers are to be given a greater say on how school budgets are spent.

Facing a reduction in resources and a need to find additional savings over the next three years, the area’s senior teachers will now have responsibility for “carrying forward” unspent resources.

The change in policy has been welcomed by Councillor Paul O’Kane, East Renfrewshire’s education and equalities convener.

He said: "We are committed to providing excellent experiences to all our pupils and empowering our headteachers to have more flexibility with their school budget will ensure local priorities can be met more easily.”

The move comes after consultations between headteachers and the council’s education department revealed the former wanted to decide for themselves how funds are allocated.

A devolved school management (DSM) procedure will see headteachers decide how much of unspent cash is used for items such as cleaning supplies and furniture, as well as health and safety budgets. However, they will have no influence over the likes of grounds maintenance contracts.

A tapering approach to help establish the DSM reserve over an initial three-year period will be adopted.

This will mean that, for 2017/18 to 2018/19, a maximum of five per cent of funding will be permitted towards the reserve for each school.

That figure will drop to 3.5 per cent in the second year and then two per cent in the third year.

Cllr O’Kane added: “This change will allow unspent budgets to be carried forward into future financial years, if certain criteria are met, giving the chance for schools to take a longer-term approach to their investments.

“Larger scale projects will be made more feasible, which will improve learning experiences for all our pupils.”