Chancellor Gordon Brown has recognised that when he gives extra money through local education authorities not all of it gets to schools. In order to bypass them, he has invented a clever solution: direct grants. Brilliant. However, he forgot about the likes of Local Government Association education chair Graham Lane.

Mr Lane has come up with a plan to scupper this idea by implying that councillors should reduce their grant to schools by the same aount (“Brown spurns big tax cut to stay true to schools”, TES, March 9). When will they ever learn?

The Chancellor must now come up with another strategy. I suggest that he turn the tables and bypass education authorities altogether to give schools all their funding as a direct government grant.

Schools could then consider passing on a few pennies for authority services. Now, wouldn’t that be fun?

Terry Creissen OBE

Principal

The Colne community school

Church Road

Brightlingsea

Colchester

Essex