VOTING RIGHTS: Message to councillors

This Thursday (31 August) councillors at Edinburgh City Council will vote on a Motion to remove the voting rights of Church Representatives on its Education, Children & Families Committee.

Archbishop Cushley will give a deputation to councillors on behalf of Catholics in the city, which is published below.

Thanks to everyone who has supported our campaign and contacted their councillor(s) asking them to vote against the motion.

Deputation - Archbishop Leo Cushley of St Andrews & Edinburgh

Thank you for this opportunity to address the Council.

Let me start my remarks with a little history.

The Education Scotland Act of 1872 made elementary education for all children between the age of 5 and 13 mandatory in Scotland.

In those days, Scotland was predominantly Presbyterian and, put briefly, that meant Catholics faced the choice of either sending their children to effectively Protestant schools, or educating them in their own schools.

So, they set up their own schools and, poor as they were, collected money to build and staff them.

The pennies of the poor built and paid for those schools, and they did fairly well, but they couldn’t match the state’s resources.

Today, in the City of Edinburgh, there are 15 Catholic primary schools and three Catholic high schools. They are open to everyone who wishes to use them.

Catholic schools began to lag behind those of the state sector.

And since Catholics were paying taxes for schools they didn’t use, this started to look like an inconsistency, even an injustice.

In 1890, school fees were abolished in state schools, but the Catholics kept paying for their own schools.

The Education Scotland Act of 1918 changed all that, by inviting Catholic schools into the state system.

This was described at the time by the Secretary of State for Scotland, a Protestant, as an act of social justice.

Today, in the City of Edinburgh, there are 15 Catholic primary schools and three Catholic high schools.

They are open to everyone who wishes to use them.

If we are a diverse and inclusive society, that must mean space for faith schools, be they Episcopalian, Presbyterian or Catholic, to say nothing of other faiths.

They are appreciated and treasured for what they are, and for the way they look after and promote the good of young people, no matter their faith.

This may explain why 20% of the population in Scotland uses Catholic schools, while Catholics are about 15% of the population.

Common Good

Our schools continue to be a significant part of our identity, and of our contribution to the common good.

Why all the history? Because, Councillors, Catholic schools in Scotland are a part of the heritage of the Catholic community here, and they were entrusted in 1918 to the state, presently represented by you.

*Archbishop Cushley with some of the religious representatives who represent the Archdiocese across different local authoritues.*

Having entrusted this estate to you, for us not to have an active voice in council in matters touching upon Catholic schools makes no sense to us, unless there is another agenda at hand, such as one that is inimical to faith, be it in schools or elsewhere in the public square.

If we are a diverse and inclusive society, that must mean space for faith schools, be they Episcopalian, Presbyterian or Catholic, to say nothing of other faiths.

That Church representatives have had the right to vote in council until now has remained unremarked and unremarkable for many years, because it is an expression of democracy.

It is only right and just that we retain, not a veto, not a special voice, not special treatment, but simply an active voice in council, over the governance of a part of our heritage that is presently in your care.

I would also ask, has everyone with a vote in government been elected? If we look to the House of Lords, we find 781 people all unelected, and all but one of the parties on this Council has members there.

If you wish to take away our vote today, perhaps your colleagues in the Lords should resign too. Perhaps those sitting in Holyrood, thanks to the list system, would like to do the same.

My point is that our democracy has found various solutions in its search for participative government.

And I believe the Church reps’ vote is an example of that, and a good one.

Ultimately, however, for the people I represent, this is a question of trust placed in your hands by the Catholics of this city, and I don’t believe the presence or voting of Church representatives in council has given any motive for concern that I am aware of.

Our schools have been entrusted to you, by us, for the benefit of our portion of the community.

It is only right and just that we retain, not a veto, not a special voice, not special treatment, but simply an active voice in council, over the governance of a part of our heritage that is presently in your care.

Voting rights of religious representatives removed in Fife

Councillors at Fife Council today voted, by a margin of 36-32, to remove the voting rights of Church Representatives.

It means that the Catholic Representative Mary Caldwell will not have a vote in decisions affecting Catholic schools.

A spokesperson for the Archdiocese of St Andrews & Edinburgh said: "The Catholic community in Fife will be disappointed that Mary will no longer have a vote on decisions that impact our schools.

"It is estimated that around 2,000 people in Fife contacted councillors about this issue, asking them to support the Catholic community on this issue.”

Accountable

Margaret Barton, Religious Advisor for the Archdiocese of St Andrews & Edinburgh, spoke to councillors at the meeting ahead of the vote.

She said: “As it is with yourselves, the Church Representative is accountable to the parents and families who choose Catholic schools.

"Like yourselves, Mary Caldwell’s service to the community is at the core of her work.

"The representative for the Catholic Church speaks and votes on behalf of a significant community who, for various reasons, do not always get their views represented.”

Voting for religious reps were agreed by current Fife Council councillors a year ago (June 2022).

Background

When the Catholic Church transferred its schools to state control in 1918, it was with the understanding that the state would work in partnership with the denomination in whose interest the schools were being run.

In 1929 the Churches were given statutory representation on education committees and that has remained to this day.

The Church Representative has been a key part of that historical, and present, legally mandated arrangement, ensuring that the trust which the Catholic Church placed in the state many years ago is reciprocated at local government level.

With 15 Catholic schools in Fife, they are educating a high percentage of the children and young people in this authority area and, therefore, impacting upon a significant percentage of those resident in Fife.

Thanks to the many people in Fife who contacted their councillors using our campaign postcards.

How they voted

The minutes of the meeting can be found here.

Voting rights for Religious Representatives on Edinburgh City Council will be decided by councillors later in the year.

Catholic community unites to save education voting rights

Catholics are being urged to fight a Green Party proposal intended to strip the Catholic community of its voting rights on the City of Edinburgh’s Education Committee.

Archbishop Leo Cushley wants them to ask local councillors to show support and vote against the motion to ensure schools “continue to flourish”.

He warned that if it was passed, it would “effectively remove from the Church the ability to influence the running and direction of our Catholic schools”.

In a letter to be read out at Sunday Mass in churches across the city this weekend (see below), he wrote: “This motion presents a serious threat to the Catholicity of our schools in Edinburgh and is also, in all probability, just the first step in a process to remove faith education from schools in Scotland altogether.

"It casts into serious doubt the commitment of some of our elected representatives to the future of Catholic schools."

“To deprive the Church’s representatives of voting rights on the Education Committee, where they sit on behalf of us and our children, casts into serious doubt the commitment of some of our elected representatives to the future of Catholic schools.

“There is still time to act, however, and local councillors will be sensitive to your opinion. I would therefore ask you to write to your local councillor as a matter of urgency to ask him or her to vote against this motion."

Earlier this year, Perth & Kinross Council became the first in the country to remove voting rights from church representatives. Edinburgh City Council will consider a similar proposal from the Green Party on 22 August.

Around 20% of all pupils in Edinburgh attend Catholic schools with the city containing 15 Catholic primary schools and three Catholic secondary schools.

Eileen Rafferty, religious education adviser to schools for the Archdiocese, said: “It is only reasonable that Catholic reps vote when it comes to decisions affecting Catholic education and Catholic schools. The vast majority of our reps across the Lothians and Fife are not clergy but parents and/or educationalists with rich experience in Catholic education. It is their voice that is determinedly silenced by this proposal.

“We trust that the majority of councillors will stand up for the Catholic community by rejecting this motion.”

Pick up a pre-written postcard to send to your local councillor at churches within the Edinburgh City Council boundary this weekend. To find out who your local councillor is click here.