EDUCATION services are to suffer swingeing £6.6 million cuts in Lancashire - although schools have been spared the rod - as the county council bid to meet government capping limits.

Lancashire's Youth Service is one of the biggest losers after having its funding slashed by £698,000 - with a possible 29 job losses.

The reduction is among a package of measures agreed by the county council's ruling Labour group to protect schools from the same devastating cuts as last year. Other measures include:

No more new grants for post-graduate students.

Reducing the value of grants to 16 to19-year-olds, and lodging allowances to students, by 10 per cent.

Putting up the price of primary school meals by 10p to £1.20.

Saving £100,000 on swimming lessons to youngsters through a review and rationalisation.

Reduce a planned increase in spending on children with special needs from £5.85 million to £5 million.

A total of 70 jobs to go in education-related services.

Lancashire education committee chairman Stan Wright accused the Government of "selling Lancashire short" by not giving enough money to fund all aspects of education.

"We are determined, in spite of this disgraceful situation, that school children in Lancashire will not suffer and we are allocating around an extra five per cent to school budgets," he said. Tories at the resources and planning sub-committee meeting accused Labour of "scaremongering" by claiming in the autumn that schools faced budget cuts of eight per cent.

However, Labour politicians replied that this was based on information coming from the Department for Education and claimed public opinion against further cuts had forced a change of mind.

There was also anger that Lancashire only got 22 per cent of the money it bid for improvements to school buildings, severely limiting the number of new projects that can be started this year.

Coun Harry Caunce, who represents Mill Hill and Moorgate in Blackburn, pointed out that a third of schools in the county were built before the First World War.

He said: "Are we saying we are bankrupt as a country? Are we saying we have no money for schools?"

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