_

_

_

_

_

 

25Oct07

SCHOOL BALANCES RAIDED

Trafford Borough schools will be forced to hand over up to £382,000 every year under a new Government 'tax' on prudent head teachers.

In a little-noticed move, the Government wants as many as 20,000 primary, secondary and special schools to pass their balances to cash-strapped local authorities.

Under the plan, any school with extra money at the end of the year will be forced to hand a share back to town halls. They will lose five per cent of outstanding balances - even if it is being saved for new buildings, playground improvements, sports facilities or drama studios. Ministers insist it is designed to claw back £85 million in school bank accounts every year.

Mark Versallion, prospective MP for Stretford and Urmston, said: "This is a desperate measure by the Government to make up for low grant settlements to Trafford, and across the country, and it means that children in schools across our community will be the ones who pay the price." Under the latest figures available, Trafford schools with a surplus had £7.6m available for further investment at the end of 2005/06.

The Conservative candidate for parliament added: "This money, in many cases, is being built up by schools for big capital projects that the Government won't fund. Prudent head teachers are being penalized and saving for future projects is in effect being discouraged." "It is unacceptable to force schools to give back money against their will.

"We should be giving local communities more power over their lives, not less. We are damaging local communities for years to come with this constant state control and meddling from Whitehall. "Local people should be allowed to run their own lives and local teachers allowed to run their own schools" said Mark Versallion.