Nearly £3million of Government funding for education did not reach schools in Barnet this year, according to statistics published by Education Secretary Charles Clarke this week.

The figures show Barnet Council kept back £2.8m of the £148m given directly to it by the Government. This is double the average amount retained by London boroughs. At £1.1m, Barnet also has the highest level of unspent funding in its reserves in London.

But Councillor Lynne Hillan, cabinet member for education, dismissed the Government statistics as hypothetical.

She said reserves were especially high in Barnet this year because an extra £1.5m was needed to cover an overspend on Special Educational Needs last year.

Another £1.8m for the Excellence in Cities programme was being held for allocation to schools from September.

Mrs Hillan said: "It is a total hypothesis, a made-up figure. Headteachers also agreed with us to hold a certain amount in contingency, just in case a couple of schools get in to real trouble. It will be distributed later, if things progress okay."

But Barnet's Labour group believes the Tories are storing up cash for a pre-election tax cut in 2006.

Labour education spokesman Alison Moore said: "Barnet Council is hiding millions of pounds. The Tory priority is cutting tax, not funding schools."

The Barnet headteachers' conference estimates a shortage of at least £6m. It is meeting with the council and financial experts to examine the figures on May 16. With redundancy notices due on May 31, they fear time is running short for solutions to the funding crisis.

May 7, 2003 12:30