School threatens council legal action over budget

West Berkshire Council has agreed to remove about 2.85m from local schools' pockets

A school is preparing to take legal action against a local authority that it has accused of taking money out of its budgets.

West Berkshire Council has agreed to remove about £2.85m from eight local schools - partly so it can reduce a £9m debt in its special educational needs (SEN) budget.

The head teacher of The Downs School, in Newbury, has written to parents outlining plans to take the council to court over the financial issues.

But the council told the BBC that the move would "allow for a fairer and more productive use of the money".

In his letter to parents over the weekend, The Downs School's head teacher Chris Prosser said £490,000 of £700,000 the school had raised through fundraising activities was taken by the council.

“This money is self-generated income, raised by the hard work of the school, staff and parents," he wrote.

“West Berkshire Council’s actions put in jeopardy the essential maintenance and improvements we had planned."

The authority's removal of the money was revealed at a recent schools' forum meeting - a body made up of local schools that is independent from the council.

Another school involved, Brookfields, is a specialist SEN school in Reading that is currently preparing to apply for academy status.

This would mean the school had greater control over it's finances and how they are utilised.

Councillor Heather Codling, executive member for children and family services at the council, said: "This a decision which was taken collectively by schools themselves to improve the provision of support and services to all children and young people in the district."

"This move will allow for a fairer and more productive use of the money - in my view it's the right thing to do for our residents," she added.

The council also said it had sent one of its auditors in to The Downs School to check its books.