There is no evidence that schools with surplus places are forced to take more excluded pupils than others, a senior member of Worcestershire County Council has claimed.

Liz Eyre, the cabinet member for children and young people, said it was a "worrying allegation" about which she was concerned.

In her response to a report from the council's managing exclusions panel, Coun Eyre said she was investigating one school's concerns and would like panel members to provide evidence of the allegation to enable officers to investigate.

However, managing exclusion's lead member, Coun Jo Hodges, claimed evidence from headteachers showed it was a problem, but said: "There is no way we are going to break the confidence of schools who spoke to us."

The report, which is due to be presented at the cabinet meeting today, outlines recommendations for support the council should offer.

One recommendation includes the need for the council to develop a system for schools to give feedback on the support they receive.

Coun Hodges said although she was generally pleased with Coun Eyre's response to the report, she had not addressed this recommendation.

Another recommendation is for schools to receive extra funding for educational psychologists. Coun Eyre said this would be possible if additional Government funding was available, but schools, through increased funding, could purchase additional support themselves.

Coun Hodges said investing in educational psychologists would be a wise move.

The report also recommends the council supports clusters of schools by creating single inclusion units for troublesome pupils to be taught separately by specialist teachers, rather than each having their own.

Coun Eyre said work is under way by area panels to optimise the meeting "local need" and officers share good practice with schools.

However, Coun Hodges said this does not address this particular concern.