A PUBLIC meeting will go ahead to discuss education funding in Worcestershire - despite the announcement of £12.3m extra for schools next year.

Worcestershire Headteachers Forum and the Association of Governors and Parents and Friends Associations have joined forces to host the meeting at County Hall.

The event, next Friday, December 14, was planned before this week's announcement, but Cledwyn-Davies, chairman of the Forum - whose members have threatened to hire a top barrister to fight Worcestershire's funding case on human rights grounds - said it would still go ahead.

"We continue to work on the figures to discover their real meaning, and this will take a few days," he said. "But the initial gloss of what seemed like a favourable settlement for Worcestershire is already beginning to dull a little.

"The public meeting will still take place and will have a very full breakdown of what these figures mean for Worcestershire's children. It will be a key factor in considering whether we continue with legal action or not."

The Government announced yesterday that Worcestershire would receive a 6.1 per cent education funding increase next year. The average increase for Shire counties was 6.5 per cent.

But despite welcoming the extra millions, there are concerns the county is still getting below average funding.

When the £1.35m extra won last year, together with inflation, is taken out, the figure is closer to £6m than £12m, and Mr Davies claims the real increase for the county is only 5.4 per cent.

County councillors met yesterday to discuss Worcestershire's funding settlement for all its services.

Coun June Longmuir, cabinet member with responsibility for education and life-long learning, said today that Worcester-shire's education budget was about £2m short on what was needed for next year.

She pledged schools would not lose out, but said householders could see Council Tax bills rising further as a result.

"We won't see school budgets go short," said Coun Longmuir, who added that the county would continue to press for a fairer funding formula.

The public meeting, organised by the Forum and entitled The Funding of Education in Worcestershire - a Case of Deliberate and Discriminatory Under Funding of our Children's Education? is at 7pm.