SCHOOLS across Worcestershire have more than £13 million in the bank. This will no doubt come as a shock to some who read this paper's frequent coverage of the campaign to get a fair funding deal for our schools.

Worcestershire County Council has the power to ask schools with big surpluses why they have not spent the money and, in extreme cases, to take it back.

It is right that questions are asked when schools seem to be hoarding money. Did last year's children not need new books, sports kit or an extra classroom assistant?

But we should not jump to the conclusion that schools are mismanaging their funds. Hopefully all the schools had good answers to the question why'. The fact that County Hall did not reclaim any of the cash suggests that the education bosses, at least, were satisfied by the replies.

The schools' actions betray a lack of faith in central Government to keep their future secure. They are worried that if funding falls in future, they would have to make cuts and future pupils would suffer. It must be hard to reassure the heads to trust the elected Government to look out for their best interests when they haven't always in the past.

But for the system to work, that trust has to be there and if they hoard for tomorrow, schools are depriving pupils of today. Just as worryingly, they are also damaging their own case for fairer funding.

And it is most important that we keep focused on the bigger picture and not let these figures distract us.