ANOTHER war of words has broken out between two rival politicians - this time over student debt.

Kilwinning Labour Councillor Joe Cullinane has blasted the SNP for what he claims is a broken promise by cutting grants and bursaries for students from the poorest backgrounds.

A series of Freedom of Information requests by Councillor Cullinane revealed that in Cunninghame South the number of students who receive non-repayable bursaries and grants has reduced by 185 since 2010-11 and the amount awarded has been cut by £970,000. However, the amount handed out in student loans over the same period has increased by £3.2m.

New figures published by the Students Awards Agency Scotland (SAAS) show that non-repayable grants have decreased by 35.5 per cent in a year. But the average student loan taken out has increased by 61.4 per cent to £5,020.

Councillor Cullinane, who is set to contest the Cunninghame South seat at the Scottish Parliament in 2016, said this week: “These figures are the latest confirmation that local students are paying a hefty price for the SNP’s decision to cut student bursaries and grants. These figures speak for themselves. 185 fewer students in Cunninghame South receiving non repayable student support and an almost £1m reduction in the bursaries and grants paid to local students whilst the amount paid out in student loans increased by over £3m. In 2010-11 student debt in Cunninghame South totalled £4m but by 2013-14 this had grown to £13.2m. In 2007 the SNP promised to abolish student debt but in 2014 it’s absolutely clear that this promise has been ditched and replaced with a fresh mountain of student debt with those from the poorest backgrounds worst off as a result of the SNP’s decision.” But Cunninghame South’s current MSP has hit back at Mr Cullinane’s criticism.

SNP rival Margaret Burgess defended her party’s education policy says the Labour politician should be “ashamed of himself”.

She says that his criticism ignores the “astronomical burden” of tuition fees for students outside Scotland and claims that the student debt in Cunninghame South will be amongst the lowest in Scotland.

Mrs Burgess said: “Criticism from Labour ignores the astronomical burden of fees faced by students outside Scotland - the fees that impact on the poorest most of all.

“These fees increase each student’s debt by up to £9,000 every year, so that students outside Scotland will be burdened for yeas to come with very high repayments.

“In contrast, the debt burden faced by Scottish students – including those from Irvine, Kilwinning and Stevenston - will actually be the lowest in these islands! “Remember - it was Labour who set up the inquiry that led to the highest fees in Europe being charged in England and Wales!

“It is also Labour who have consistently supported what amounts to the privatisation of education which works against the interests of the poorest students and particularly those who are the first in their family to go to university. The SNP has opened the doors to Higher Education, though Labour even voted against that in the Scottish Parliament.

“I am proud to be in a party which believes that education should always be free and based on the ability to learn, not the ability to pay. There is no room for complacency, but in addition the proportion of entrants to higher education from the 20 per cent most deprived areas of Scotland rose to 15.8 per cent in 2012-13, a record level.

“Cllr Cullinane has shot himself in the foot by parroting lines fed to him from Labour HQ without understanding the reality of Scottish education.

“In so doing he has shown himself as a supporter of the Tory approach to higher education which works against Scottish students. “He should be ashamed of himself.”