"Don't steal our school's money" say the Lib Dems

7.00.00pm BST (GMT +0100) Wed 24th Oct 2007

Cllr. Jane Hollis & Andrew Simpson outside Kingsthorpe Grove Primary School (Jane Hollis as well as a local councillor for the area is an “old girl” of the school.)

Towards the end of the last Parliamentary term, the government put out for consultation a proposal to take away 5% of the surplus cash left in each school's budget and to redistribute it to local authorities. Now the Conservative Northamptonshire County Council have gone and topped it by clawing back 8% from the unspent money of a number of nursery, primary and special schools.

Andrew Simpson, Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Candidate for Northampton North says:

"This money falls within the delegated budgets under which schools pay for their running costs. Many schools build up reserves to pay for forthcoming projects or to cover them for a "rainy day". Many have foreseen that growth in school budgets will be halved over the next three years and are looking to use their reserves to cushion the effect of this."

"Frankly, I am amazed the Conservative County Council have done this having heard David Cameron denounce the Labour Government for proposing it. They are saying one thing nationally, and doing another locally. Taking money from school budgets in this way is little more than a smash and grab on careful schools that have planned for the future. The effect could be felt by many school children in those schools affected and their education could suffer."

County Councillor Jane Hollis (Lib Dem - St. Davids Ward) highlighted the case of Kingsthorpe Grove School where £15,060 is being clawed back:

"Kingsthorpe Grove School where many of the children from my ward go, is not in the Private Finance Initiate project in Northampton because it is a heritage building, and therefore more costly to maintain. This means that they do not receive the same IT upgrade, or a dance studio that many other schools in the PFI programme receive. They are struggling with their budget for their building programme. For instance they need to replace rotting roof timbers and a number of window frames. The reserves were to be used for this purpose and the clawing back of £15,060 will delay this work. It is despicable of the County Council to claw back this money which they had prudently saved towards supporting their building maintenance costs."

The other schools that are having money clawed back are:

• Wallace Road Nursery School £210 -

• Badby Primary School £1,650 -

• Chipping Warden Primary School £1,640 -

• Croughton All Saints Church of England School £2,690 -

• Polebrook Church of England Primary School £6,120 -

• Syresham St James Church of England Primary School £610 -

• Tiffield Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School £1,360 -

• Kings Meadow Special School £1,220

GRAND TOTAL £30,560.00