REPAIR and building work at some local schools may have to be postponed after the borough received less government cash than it hoped for.

Education bosses are refusing to be "downbeat" and have said that they are "grateful" for Whitehall's £1.4 million funding boost.

Bury Council has been given permission to spend £1.4 million on school buildings next year; but that's £400,000 less than last year and £800,000 less than what they thought they might get.

The total is broken down into three parts: £557,000 which the council is allowed to borrow for capital work; £710,768 passed on to schools based on the number of pupils they have and £141,047 for headteachers to spend.

Councillor Andrea Hughes, Bury's lifelong learning spokesman, said: "We want to be positive. It is not the £2.2 million we wanted but we welcome the figure."

She stressed that more than 300 local authorities were bidding for money and added: "We are not going to be disappointed. We have got to sit down over the next few weeks and and work out exactly what we will be able to do.

"It might mean that we have to reschedule certain projects in schools. We will do that and hopefully get a better settlement next year."

Additionally, voluntary-aided schools are to receive funding of £311,000, up from last year's £191,000, which includes £54,000 to kick-start building programmes at St Monica's and St Gabriel's RC High Schools.

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