THE restructuring of a national school for autistic children has seen nearly 40 members of staff paid off.

National charity, Scottish Autism, which runs the New Struan School in Alloa, has blamed the mass redundancies on local authority budget cuts.

It says that the school has suffered a “sustained reduction” in pupil numbers over the years down to a drop in new pupil referrals from Scotland’s councils – local authorities that refer pupils provide funds to the school to cover running costs.

Pupils using the service who have more complex needs and other disabilities in addition to their autism, have also put pressure on the school.

Following a review of the service by Scottish Autism, 39 members of staff were made redundant earlier this month, with the majority taking voluntary packages.

Alan Somerville, Chief Executive of Scottish Autism, told the Advertiser, “Widely regarded as a model of excellence for educating young people with autism, New Struan School has not been immune to the tightening of local authority budgets. The resulting sustained reduction in pupil numbers and increasing complexity of the service meant that we had to consult on a proposed new operating structure for the school, at the same time as enhancing our professional support team.

“Following this review 39 individuals have left the organisation, the majority via voluntary redundancy. In the meantime we have offered additional hours to those remaining and are currently in the process of recruiting for new roles which have been created under the new structure.

“During this period of transition New Struan School will be supported by our much larger resource of skilled and experienced staff across Scottish Autism.” New Struan School is an independent, national centre of educational excellence for pupils with autism and has been at the forefront of specialist education delivery for over 25 years, operating on its current site in Smithfield Loan, Alloa, since 2005.

The school offers day and residential education for children and young people, aged 5-19, from across Scotland for up to 42 pupils with the current school roll at 31.