AROUND 80% of councils have not used their powers to sack teachers on the grounds of incompetence in the last three years, the Sunday Herald can reveal.

Only three local authorities have confirmed firing teachers for under-performance, sparking concerns that different standards are being applied across the country. In total, only 14 teachers have been dismissed.

The Scottish Government has identified the educational attainment gap - children from deprived backgrounds getting poorer grades than pupils from wealthier areas - as its top priority.

Huge variations in outcomes exist between council-run schools in areas such as literacy and numeracy.

Poverty and under-investment are cited as reasons behind this inequality, but local authorities also possess powers to get rid of teachers deemed not to be good enough in the classroom. Headteachers can report concerns about a staff members.

The current “Framework on Teacher Competence” (FTC), published by the General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS) watchdog, lays out a four-stage process for local authorities when dealing with poor standards.

The official handbook explaining the terms and conditions of council-employed teachers also states that the FTC should be “followed at all times” in “cases involving performance”.

The first two FTC stages are not part of the formal disciplinary process and can result in suggested improvements being made to a teacher.

Stage three is the beginning of the council’s disciplinary procedure and includes the headteacher producing a “comprehensive” report on a teacher. A local authority can then decide what, if any, action will be taken.

If a teacher is sacked, an automatic referral to the GTCS must be made.

This newspaper asked each council for the number of teacher dismissals on competence grounds since 2013, in the context of the FTC.

Twenty five of 32 local authorities said they had not sacked any teachers for this reason in the last three years.

Only three councils put a figure on the number of dismissals between 2013 and 2016: Glasgow (10); Inverclyde (3); and Shetland (1). According to Scottish Government statistics, there were around 50,000 teachers in publicly-funded schools in 2015.

Two councils - Aberdeen and Dumfries & Galloway - said their totals on competence sackings and less serious disciplinary action were too small to reveal, while Edinburgh failed to hand over the figures. Aberdeenshire council provided a nil return, but for one year only.

A senior education sector source said part of the reason for the low number of sackings was that some headteachers were not “ruthless” enough in raising concerns to councils.

The source added: “Local authorities have also been cut to the bone and have lost a lot of good people. When the EIS [the main teachers’ union] come in to represent their members, they find flaws in the process and out play the councils.”

A second insider, who holds a senior position in education, said there was another way of ensuring under-performing staff left the classroom: some teachers whose competence has been questioned go off on sick leave and can end up with their contract being terminated on the grounds of lack of capability.

Tory MSP Liz Smith said: “Notwithstanding the fact that professional standards are undoubtedly improving in teaching on a general basis, these statistics suggest there are different standards applied when reporting problems and I am sure the GTCS will be concerned about that."

Greg Dempster, the general secretary of the Association of Headteachers and Deputes in Scotland, said: “Yes, Headteachers need to be confident in taking forward competence procedures where appropriate and while some have raised issues about the length and complexity of doing so, these processes are in place for good reason and include serious sanctions for serious situations. A predominantly forward looking, formative approach to teacher performance is an important part of our system.”

An EIS spokesperson said: “The framework for teacher competence sets out support in the initial stages of procedures, allowing any issues relating to individual teachers to be addressed in an appropriate manner. A number of teachers have benefited from these support measures which are tied to the standard for full registration.”

A spokesperson for COSLA said the issue was a matter for individual local authorities.