A LEADING head teacher took on a Government minister by demanding answers on what he claimed were misleading budget promises, it was revealed today.

Head at Accrington's St Christopher's CE High School Alasdair Coates put schools minister David Miliband on the spot during a conference in Harrogate.

He asked why it had been necessary to email all head teachers the day after Chancellor Gordon Brown's budget speech in a bid to clarify what money was available for East Lancashire schools.

Mr Coates, along with head teachers, governors and teaching unions, had already expressed concern that they, and the public, had been mislead over the announcement about money being handed out to schools in 2004-5.

They believed the Budget speech announced new funds but, in fact, the announcement was merely a repetition of a previous announcement.