A LEAFLET sent by local Tories to the residents of Spennells in Kidderminster seems to suggest the decision to change from a three-tier school system in Wyre Forest to two-tier has already been made and the £160 million needed to implement the change is in place.

However this is far from the truth.

Until the county council meet in full session this month no such final decision has been made. Even if the plan is passed at that meeting it must then be put before the Schools Organisation Committee, which is made up of five interested groups. They include council members, the Church of England, the Catholic Church, school governors and the Learning and Skills Council.

All five groups must vote in favour for the plan to pass. Otherwise an independent adjudicator is appointed to make the final decision, perhaps in May or June.

The funds to pay for the change are not in place according to county council officers I contacted on February 11. No application for funds has been made.

Officials told me that if everything goes in favour they intend to try and raise the money in two ways.

1 It is hoped that central government will supply a £110 million grant to pay for the changes in secondary school and special schools. A special fund has been allocated by government to try to drag school buildings in the secondary sector out of the 19th and into the 21st century. There is a 20-year plan.

2 Officers think the £50 million to pay for changes in the primary sector will be borrowed from a government quango called the Public Loan Board. The council will pay interest on the loan at the market rate (eg five per cent interest will cost the taxpayer £2.5 million a year for 20-30 years). At the same time officers told me that this money will have to be allocated each year to repay the debt. This could be a high burden on the taxpayer in the future.

I found the officers at County Hall extremely helpful as I tried to sort fact from fiction.

A LAMB

Fulmar Crescent

Kidderminster