WILTSHIRE County Council has been applauded for maximising funding for schools this year, but headteachers warn money will still be tight with extra demands on school budgets.

On May 2, Education Secretary Charles Clarke published figures showing which local education authorities had withheld cash earmarked by his department for schools, and gave them ten days to justify holding money back from schools.

LEAs were asked to explain to the Government what they had done with more than £500million that should have gone to schools, but has not yet reached them.

A row blew up last week as head teachers around the country warned that despite Government claims that schools funding had increased by around 12 per cent, they faced having to make staff redundant in order to balance the books.

But Wiltshire County Council believes the county has more than done its duty. Bob Wolfson, director of Children, Education and Libraries, said: "We believe that Wiltshire has done its utmost to maximise resources for schools and has increased its levels of funding well beyond the minimum levels indicated by the Department for Education and Skills earlier in the year."

The overall budget was nearly six per cent more than the minimum level set by the DfES. The increase in the amount of funding given directly to schools by the local education authority was the highest among similar authorities.

Malcolm Trobe, headteacher of Malmesbury School, shared the view that the county council had worked out a good deal for schools, but feared extra costs would swallow up the increase. "We'll still just be keeping our heads above the water," he said.

Martin Watson, of Lavington Comprehensive School, said teacher pay increases and pensions, the one per cent on National Insurance, a new pay deal for teaching assistants and the requirement for more support staff to lighten teacher workloads would all take their toll.

Although the school's budget looked healthy, he said they needed a 10.5 per cent increase simply to stand still.

Cabinet member for education, Jane Scott, said: "Funding for Wiltshire's schools has increased by 10.9 per cent this year."