Mark Garnier, Conservative Parliamentary Candidate for Wyre Forest, has strongly expressed his anger at yet another smash and grab raid by Gordon Brown's government. This time it is schools that save money. It seems that any school with unspent balances at the end of March will be required to pay back 5% of the amount saved. Details of the policy were confirmed last week by schools minister Jim Knight.
Commenting, Mark Garnier said: "Here we go again. Any school putting aside money for a special project or an unforeseen expense will now be fined 5% of those savings. This will have two effects.
"Schools will be reluctant to put money aside and may not be able to save for a big project. On top of that, it will mean that schools are effectively being encouraged to spend everything they get as soon as they can so as to avoid the new prudence tax.
"This may not be such a big deal for well funded schools, but with Worcestershire languishing at the bottom of the school funding league tables, this will hit our local schools hardest. Why does Gordon Brown hate Worcestershire's children so much?