Bosses at Education Scotland have been forced to put strict limits on the recruitment of new staff amid "increasingly challenging" financial pressures.
The agency's advisory board highlighted "concerns" about the situation to Education Secretary Jenny Gilruth following a meeting in October, warning that achieving the government's priorities would be a "challenge" due to budget and staffing constraints.
Senior managers held talks to try to resolve the issues, after being left without enough funding to pay for posts that had already been created. They discussed a full recruitment freeze, as well as a review of the future of Education Scotland's properties, and the staff travel bill.
A spokesperson confirmed to The Scotsman that additional financial controls have since been put in place "with immediate effect", including limiting recruitment to appointments deemed "business-critical".
The spending squeeze comes as Education Scotland, which oversees the country's state-funded schools and nurseries, faces being broken up under the government's plans for education reform, with a new national agency being created, as well as a new inspectorate.
It previously employed close to 400 staff and its budget was cut from £30.3 million to £28.7m between 2022/23 and 2023/24, despite rocketing inflation. Next year, it will be £29.2m.
During a meeting of Education Scotland’s advisory board in October, before the government’s spending plans for next year had been announced, members discussed how its "budget position has become increasingly challenging".
They also said the pressures could make it a "challenge" to deliver priorities set by Ms Gilruth, and they agreed to write to her raising their "concerns". Meanwhile, the board was updated on talks held by members of Education Scotland’s leadership team (LT) in September.
A note of the briefing said: “An in-depth discussion took place regarding the Education Scotland budget and several options were considered, including a recruitment freeze, a review of the organisation’s estates and travel and subsistence.
