THE Government has promised more money to all schools when next year's budget is revealed.

But it has been accused of acting like Alice in Wonderland by Council leader Mike Bawden, who says the Government wants to hike up council tax and then tell councils how to spend the money.

Education Secretary Charles Clarke was expected to tell the Commons that there would be no immediate funding to help ease school's financial crisis.

But, in what political opponents were calling a U-turn, he announced in Parliament that every school would get a minimum per pupil increase from an £800 million pot.

The cash comes from last year's £846 million underspent by the Department of Education and Skills, which was revealed earlier.

The figure of £846 million was disclosed shortly after Mr Clarke wrote to all education authorities asking them to prove they had passed on all of their Government funding to schools.

Mr Clarke also announced headteachers would be told their allocations this autumn instead of in the winter to give them more time to prepare their budgets.

"This package is designed to secure stability and to restore confidence in our funding arrangements for schools," Mr Clarke said.

"I will of course be monitoring the effect of the changes I am announcing, with a view to considering if further changes are needed for 2005-6.

"It is critical to ensure that funding arrangements for schools are sustainable in the long term," the Minister said.

But Councillor Bawden (Con, Old Town and Lawns) was unhappy with the decision that more of the money will be given directly to schools from central government, bypassing the Swindon Local Education Authority.

Mr Clarke has told LEAs to pass on all of the money intended for schools directly and not to spend it on local authority services such as special needs education. He has threatened to tackle those that do not pass the cash on by using his powers to set their budgets for them.

Coun Bawden said: "This is just another step away from local democracy. My main concern is that the Secretary of State is telling us how to spend our money without the local knowledge.

"The Government is demanding people pay more council tax and then demanding more control over how it is spent. It is acting like Alice in Wonderland," he said.

Michael Keeling, head of Even Swindon Infant School and chairman of the Swindon Association of Primary Schools, said he only welcomed changes if they meant more money coming into schools.