CHILDREN in East Lancashire are "losing out" because £51million remains unspent in school reserves, unions and education chiefs have claimed.

A report released today by teaching union NASUWT show that there are schools in the region with thousands of pounds in the bank, and one with more than £1million in reserves.

Mac Harrison, the union's Lancashire secretary, said the large amounts of cash "cannot be justified."

And that view was echoed by Lancashire County Council education chief Alan Whittaker who said: "It's a disgrace."

But school governors have defended the sums, who said the cash was being kept for good reasons.

The figures for the last financial year show that schools in Blackburn with Darwen have a total of £7.1m in savings. The figure is £5.3m in Hyndburn and Ribble Valley, £2.8m in Burnley, £2.7m in Pendle and £2.6m in Rossendale. The rest is spread across Lancashire.

Mr Harrison, who represents more than 4,000 local members, said: "We are very concerned by these figures.

"Schools may say that this is money committed to long-term projects, but I'm struggling to comprehend that any school could need £1m in reserves.

"We are halfway through the school year I think now is the right time to ask - where is this money and what is it going to be spent on?

"This is money that has been provided to enhance the education of current pupils in these schools by means of staffing and resources. Children are losing out and parents should be asking why."

Coun Whittaker, who holds the schools portfolio for the county council, said: "I think it is a real disgrace that the figure is so high.

"Spending plans at schools are almost entirely at the discretion of the governors.

"A healthy balance for the whole of Lancashire is about £20million, that's about five per cent of their total budget. The fact that it is nearly £51million is clearly a problem.

"All of the schools will say that they have got a reason for saving up the money, and they are entitled to save it, but the money is rising each year.

"One thing to point out is that this cash is not evenly spread out. Some schools have very low balances and some have very high ones.

"I am doing all I can to reduce the amount and I want to encourage parents to ask questions."

Clitheroe Royal Grammar School has the highest surplus, with £1,021,280 in the bank according to the figures.

Stoneyholme Community Primary School, in Oswald Street, Burnley, has reserves of £348,876 and Norden High School in Rishton has a balance of £264,004 in the bank.

But the chairman of governors at Clitheroe Royal Grammar School, Canon Philip Dearden, defended the large reserves in the school's budget.

He said: "We are building up a fund to pay for new classrooms and that work has now started.

"It is not money that is being hoarded unnecessarily."