HOLY Family in Keighley was among three Bradford district secondary schools with financial deficits in March, new figures have revealed.

The Spring Gardens Lane Catholic school had a shortfall of £111,230.

Hanson School in Swain House, Bradford, suffered the biggest deficit, of almost £800,000.

Publication of the figures coincides with shock news the district's taxpayers could be left with massive bills if schools with huge budget deficits become academies.

National policy dictates a school converting to an academy will keep any surplus budget, but if the school is in the red, the debt will be passed on to the local authority.

With more schools predicted to become academies in the next year, the risk of Bradford Council taking on more debts is also increasing.

Councillor David Ward, the new Liberal Democrat spokesman for education on the council, described the situation as “crazy”.

The ex-MP said he wass wary of the Government’s academy policy while he was a part of the coalition government.

He said: “The academies bill was the first piece of legislation I voted against when I became an MP – it was my first rebellion.

“This issue about deficits being passed on to the local council was a major concern to me.

“It is just outrageous that when a school becomes an academy, its deficit has to be picked up by the local authority, but when they have a surplus, it goes to the academy sponsor.

“It is unfair to local taxpayers. If a school is considering moving to academy status, what is the incentive for the school to carefully manage its budget?

“A lot of schools take careful control of their budget and have to make difficult decisions to keep it balanced, and this policy means other schools can effectively hand over their deficits to the taxpayer.

“It is crazy. This system isn’t fair, but it’s the rules.”

The figures show that most schools in the district have a surplus, with a total of £18,867,767 in school accounts.

Bradford Schools Forum recently heard that many schools had surpluses set aside for major projects, such as building works, or specialist provisions, such as special needs education.

It has agreed to investigate what more can be done to prevent schools running up large debts before becoming academies.

Cllr Imran Khan, the executive member for education on Bradford Council, said: “The council has in place a protocol for the control of surplus balances in schools, which challenges schools that may accrue larger balances.

“The Schools Forum has responded to the seriousness of this uneven position and will now carry out detailed further work with the council on what can be done to prevent deficits forming, and how the costs of any deficits, and other liabilities that may crystallise at conversion, can be managed.”

A Department for Education spokesman said the policy is fair.

He added: “It is right that these deficits remain with their local authority, as these schools were the responsibility of the authority when they were found to be failing or underperforming, and it is the authority’s responsibility for ensuring the school managed its expenditure satisfactorily.

“It is appropriate schools retain any surpluses following conversion. Schools will often build up surpluses as a way of saving for significant expenditure, such as investment in a major IT/equipment project. It would not be reasonable to remove these surpluses from schools.”

The Keighley News attempted to contact Holy Family School for a comment before going to print, but without success.