EIGHT Southampton schools may be allowed to go over budget by councillors in a bid to avoid a funding shortage hitting standards.

A further five schools are planning to spend their annual capital grant for building improvements on day to day running costs to avoid getting into debt. The move follows significant rises in staffing costs and falling pupil numbers across the city, which means schools get less money from the government.

The council has chipped in extra money but says its low funding increase this year of just 3.2 per cent per pupil has left the authority needing to tighten its belt. A deficit budget allows a school to spend more than its share of the councils' schools cash, but the money has to be paid back into the pot within five years. The cash is paid back out of future budgets.

Bellemoor Secondary School is to have the biggest debt after asking to increase its deficit from last year's £55,000 to a £130,000 shortfall in its £2,419,919 budget this year. The school has seen a drop of 35 pupils on its roll.

Fairisle Junior School is expecting to be £15,000 in deficit on its £658,994 budget for the first time in its history in order to buy teaching resources. Meanwhile, Millbrook Secondary has reduced its deficit from £176,000 last year to just £30,000 in its £1,836,210 budget this year, thanks to a government leadership grant.

Other deficit schools are Holy Family Primary (£35,000 in a £971,856 budget), Townhill Infant (£5,000 in a £533,708 budget), St George's Secondary (£45,000 in a £1,798,293), Weston Park Boys Secondary (£55,000 in a £2,008,992) and Vermont Special (£18,000 in a £464,541 budget).

Permission to allow a budget deficit is only given after meetings between staff and council officers to try and keep the sum to a minimum.

Council officers have decided preventing schools from going over budget would have hit standards and meant staff might have to be laid off. As it is, no teachers have been made redundant. Schools planning to use their capital grants on everyday running costs are taking advantage of a one-off dispensation from the government allowing the unusual procedure, which is a response to nationwide complaints of budget shortfalls.

The city's head of resources, policy and planning Andrew Hind said: "It's been a tough year for school budgets in Southampton and across the country as a whole. Although school funding has increased slightly, so have costs. Falling pupil numbers have added to the problem for some schools. Their income goes down, but they still have to meet their costs."

Education boss Calvin Horner will make a final decision on the budget plans on July 28.