School strikes: Scottish councils make new offer in pay dispute

Schools face three days of strikes this month

Councils say they have made a "best and final" pay offer to staff in an effort to stop strikes that would close schools across Scotland.

The BBC understands £80m more will fund the deal after council body Cosla held talks with the Scottish government.

It would include a rise of around £2,000 a year for the lowest paid.

The strike action by Unison, Unite and the GMB includes janitors and catering staff. It is scheduled for 26, 27 and 28 September in 26 council areas.

The Scottish government previously said that councils would need to use existing budgets to finance an improved offer.

However, the funding package is now understood to be worth nearly £580m following talks between Cosla and deputy first minister Shona Robison.

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Cosla's Resources Spokesperson Councillor Katie Hagmann said tough decisions had been taken and warned of "delays to programmes and projects" within communities to meet the pay demands.

She said: "No new money has been identified for this offer - it is the ultimate example of 'reduce, reuse and recycle' in finance terms.

"Strikes are too damaging to our children and young people, their families and our communities across Scotland for us not to have taken this action."

The dispute is over a pay offer for all council workers other than teachers - who are covered by a different pay deal.

A number of councils - including Glasgow - have already said schools will close if the action goes ahead.

The last pay offer, made last week, was rejected by the three unions.

It would give workers at least a £1,929 increase in annual salary by 1 January 2024.

Unions said more was needed to help staff deal with the cost of living.