THE amount of money Worcestershire received from the Government for education was the third lowest in the country.

This increase of 3.7 per cent contrasts with the county average of 5.2 per cent. This means that every primary school pupil gets £242 less a year, and a secondary school pupil £302 less a year.

From this amount, £37m is kept back at County Hall. In addition, a further quarter of another fund is retained at County Hall.

It's little wonder that administration at County Hall has led to an increase of staff of 82 in two years at a cost of more than £2m.

The Government has also under-funded social services by £10m less than the county average.

It's not surprising that the county's social services budget became overspent by £4m.

The situation has led to bed-blocking in hospitals, and residential and nursing homes for the elderly have been deprived of care. The result of all this led to the controlling Labour Group, with the support of the Liberal Democrats, forcing through a county tax rise of nearly 10 per cent.

This means that council tax has risen by 45 per cent in four years, so that a Band D property owner now pays over £200 more than he did four years ago.

This is now clearly a blatant stealth tax and forces the county taxpayer to pay for what the Government refuses to do.

So much for education, education, education.

STEPHEN CLEE,

County councillor,

County Hall,

Spetchley Road,

Worcester