Teacher vacancies have doubled in Aberdeen since an emergency summit was held in the city eight months ago.

The latest total of 134 vacancies have been highlighted by North-east Conservative MSP Ross Thomson, who said he is concerned about a lack of progress since the summit.

Mr Thomson has urged new Education Minister John Swinney to tackle the issue afresh.

He said: “These shocking new figures illustrate a concerning lack of progress since the education summit in September last year in Aberdeen.

“The message could not have been clearer. We needed to see urgent action from Scottish Government to address a problem that was already at crisis point.

“That was eight months ago, and I am now told that education officials have heard nothing from civil servants at Holyrood since.”

Mr Thomson has written to Mr Swinney asking for action.

He said: “People across the North of Scotland will rightly be asking why, after serving up warm words in countless TV, radio and newspaper interviews, the Education Secretary appears to have turned a deaf ear to our problems that are affecting schools across the North East, Highlands and Islands.

“I have now written to John Swinney, seeking a renewed focus on this issue.

“If, as we are constantly told, that education is the top priority of the SNP, then after nearly 10 years in power, we need to see some evidence of that.”

Among the key areas discussed at the Aberdeen summit was a proposed weighting allowance, to address the cost of living challenges in the North East.

Low funding settlements from central government – particularly for Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire councils – and the creation of a nationally-supported task force to tackle recruitment and retention problems were also discussed.

A spokesman for the Scottish Government said: “The Scottish Government is fully committed to maintaining teacher numbers as a central part of our priority to improve attainment.”

“Every local authority, including Aberdeen City Council, has been allocated an appropriate share of £88 million additional funding provided to meet the agreement to maintain teacher numbers and support probationer teachers.

“The Scottish Government has provided additional funding to support initiatives such as the DLITE programme at the University of Aberdeen to provide a professional graduate diploma in education, and we would encourage every local authority to recruit the teachers that they need to meet their commitments.”