EDUCATION chiefs have been warned that a trailblazing Education Action Zone could face difficulties raising cash in future years.

A report to Blackburn's EAZ Forum, which meets on Wednesday, says it is possible the zone will not raise the private sector funding it needs to get extra money from the Department for Education and Employment.

Blackburn's EAZ contains 22 schools, including three secondary, one special school, 15 primaries and three nurseries, teaching more than 7,000 pupils. Extra resources are concentrated on improving those schools in the zone which are below local and national averages.

The zone is one of the most successful in the country and has led to a leap in education standards. Education officers from Blackburn with Darwen Council have been invited to assist other areas in setting up their own EAZs as a result.

But the report says: "It is a possibility the zone will not reach its target and, thus, its full cash grant from the DfEE. This uncertainty of funding makes programming activity more difficult and we need to be able to abandon planned activity should targets not be met."

Blackburn's EAZ currently receives £500,000 from government per year and has to find another £250,000 annually from the private sector. For each pound raised from businesses, the zone also gets an additional pound from the DfEE.

Harry Devonport, manager of Blackburn's EAZ, said: "It gets more difficult each year because you cannot keep going back to the same companies. We are not a large city like Manchester with lots of mulinationals."

However, Mr Devonport also pointed out that a recent Audit Commission report had praised Blackburn EAZ as one of just three out of 22 similar zones around the country which had met its targets for raising funds from the private sector.

He said Blackburn's EAZ had proved successful in the past at raising money from local companies because of the partnerships which had been forged in the town between the council and local businesses.

But he said failure to raise enough private cash was "a possibility members need to be aware of," and added: "I am confident we will meet the target but I am saying we have to keep our eye on the situation because it's not easy raising this money."

Mike Murray, chairman of the EAZ, said business worries about recession also made raising cash from the private sector more difficult for the Zone.

Coun Bill Taylor, executive member of Blackburn with Darwen Council with responsibility for education, said getting the private sector to contribute either with cash or in kind helped firms become more involved with their local community.

He said Blackburn's EAZ had "performed strongly" and was one of a handful which had been allowed to continue for another two years with "no strings attached" by the government.

Coun Taylor added: "I think Harry was right to raise this as a warning because if we are short of a few thousand pounds it's something to worry about, but our EAZ has so far been recognised as very successful nationally."