Amid growing concerns about the impact of inflation and rising energy bills on Scottish schools, East Renfrewshire Council may have provided a sign of things to come.

The council says it “will have to make very difficult decisions about what levels of service it can continue to provide over the next three years”.

The “budget briefing” document for 2023-26 contains a list of potential cuts, in education and beyond, stating that “not all of these savings will have to be taken but it’s likely many of them will”. It adds that the process of identifying potential cuts had been ”incredibly difficult”.

If all of these measures were taken, the council document says, “up to 550 jobs could be at risk over three years”.

Of course, while councils have said repeatedly over recent years that they will try to protect education budgets, those very same budgets represent the biggest chunk of council spending. For years councils have been saying that drastic cuts to education will be unavoidable at some stage, and it seems that moment is fast coming over the horizon.

Want to see more SNP fails? – Health Matters

Sign up to receive our weekly newsletter and join the fightback against Scottish Nationalism.