DESPITE the fact that they are frowned upon by the council, vouchers to ensure school places for four year old children are made available would be wisely 'spent' in local state schools, including those in the Leigh area.

Under the Government's new rules for issuing 'Nursery" vouchers, which comes fully into effect next year, parents with children aged four will be given them to redeem in exchange for places in state school or nursery unit, or other provisions offered by the private sector.

The face value of £1,100 will be divided into separate units to be spent during the school year, but education chiefs say the scheme deprives the local education department of funding since the cost of the vouchers is taken out of their budget. In an attempt to set the record straight on the scheme the council is distributing thousands of leaflets.

Cllr Stuart Shaw, Chairman of the Education Committee, said: "We are very proud of our record in providing education for the under-fives and are committed to doing this in the future. We have made no secret of the fact that we do not like this scheme, but since we have to live with it we are determined to ensure we operate it to the best advantage of the children of the borough."

A vouchers Hotline, 01942 828943, has also been set up to answer questions posed by the leaflets.

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