Fife Council budget includes £500,000 for psychologists

Fife Council set their budget on Thursday and proposals from the Lib Dems include £500,000 for educational psychologists, which they say will also support the mental wellbeing of pupils and teachers.

Dunfermline Central councillor Aude Boubaker-Calder said: "In the last couple of years, we have seen school violence skyrocketing and I recently met with education officials to ask for solutions.

READ MORE: Union survey suggests school violence is worse in Fife

"They stated that additional education psychologists would make a significant impact and would also support pupils and staff going through other mental health issues.

"As a result, I worked with the Fife Liberal Democrat leadership to ensure this was one of our top budget priorities.

Dunfermline Central Lib Dem councillor Aude Boubaker-Calder. (Image: Fife Council)

"I am pleased we have helped to persuade the council administration to add this to the budget and this will help bring Fife more into line with other local authorities."

Councillors will vote on the general revenue fund budget for 2024-27 on Thursday and the minority Labour administration will need support from elsewhere to get their proposals approved.

That opens the door for other parties to push their own agenda and Lib Dem leader, Cllr James Calder, said he'd been in discussions with Labour councillors over the past few weeks.

He said his party's priorities, which have made it into the administration's proposed budget, include the cash for educational psychologists, £3.5 million to improve our roads and more than £1m to tackle the effects of flooding and coastal erosion.

READ MORE: MSP calls for more action to tackle violence in Fife schools

Cllr Calder said: "The Liberal Democrats have been engaging with the council administration to ensure that this budget delivers for the people of Fife.

"I am pleased that they have listened to our requests and ensured they form part of the budget.

"This means that we can help tackle the huge rise in school violence with more education psychologists to help tackle the root of the problem.

"We can also ensure we take measures to deal with the effects of climate change when it comes to flooding.

"Roads that have struggled with years of under-investment in repairs now have the funds necessary to tackle this."

There are also two Lib Dem proposals to spend money in St Andrew's, including £250,000 for "urgent repairs" at Craigtoun Park and £20,000 to improve pedestrian access to the town's recycling centre. Cllr Calder added: "This budget shows the impact that Liberal Democrats continue to have locally in working hard for the people of Fife and I am pleased to support it."