THE majority of Bradford schools will plunge into the red within the next two years as rising bills outstrip budgets, head teachers have been warned.

A combination of rising wages, increased pension contributions, and hikes in the price of goods and services mean school budgets face a predicted £28 million shortfall by 2016/17, Bradford Schools Forum was told yesterday.

Head teachers have been told to start preparing job cuts if necessary - a situation which left one questioning whether redundancies among ancillary staff will leave teachers carrying out tasks like cleaning classrooms.

A report to the forum, made up of teachers and Council officers, said: "The financial climate for schools is such that we anticipate that the majority will not ‘balance’ their budgets. This may be the case in 2015/16, but will almost certainly be so in 2016/17 and beyond.

"Schools must consider now what action they will take to remain financially secure.

"In these circumstances, schools will only be able to balance their budgets by taking deliberate action to reduce their spending. If this action includes staffing restructure, processes take time to develop, consult on and implement."

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Andrew Redding, senior school finance officer, added: "In two years' time an average one form entry primary school in Bradford will have £85,000 less to spend than now.

"It is very important we get the message out to schools so they are looking at their finances a few years in advance."

On average, he said schools would suffer from the equivalent of a 7.5 per cent reduction in their budgets.

Councillor Ralph Berry, the Council's executive for children's services, said: "Although a lot of schools have balances at the moment, they won't last long.

"There will be a lot of re-structuring needed in schools, and we will have to support schools in finding more efficient ways to run and protecting front line teaching.

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"Schools are facing the toughest financial situations I've seen in over a decade."

Oakbank School in Keighley last month announced it will be cutting five administrative roles, with head teacher David Maxwell saying the "difficult decision" was made so the school did not fall into a deficit.

Sara Rawnsley, head teacher of Princeville Primary School, told the forum an added pressure faced by schools was paying all staff the Living Wage, which was now encouraged by the Council which has agreed to do so for its employees from this April.

She said schools would face the moral dilemma of wanting to pay all staff the right wage, but at the same time having to balance their budget.

"Our moral imperative is the education of our young people, but we also want to maintain standards like keeping a clean school," she said.

"This will be a problem a lot of schools face. Will it come to the point where heads are doing things like cleaning schools themselves? Probably."

Ian Murch, Bradford spokesman for the National Union of Teachers also predicted job cuts as school grappled with balancing their books.

He said: "Schools are becoming more aware of this issue, and 'restructuring' is the polite way of describing what they will have to do to cope with this. It is going to be very difficult when every school is losing 7.5 per cent of its budget.

"There could be schools where paying for redundancies tips them over the edge."

And Forum chairman Paul Burluraux said: “Unless a school is growing, then it will likely be in financial difficulties in the next few years. We need to make sure all head teachers are aware of this situation.”

The Council's Conservative spokesman for education, Councillor Debbie Davies, said: "The schools' budget is protected, but everyone is under financial pressure and schools are no exception."

But Liberal Democrats group leader, Councillor Jeanette Sunderland, said: "Schools get a huge amount of money through pupil premium and additional money for in-year admissions. These schools still have a lot in their reserves that they can use."

The Council's analysis predicts that, on average, that the gap between income and expenditure in maintained schools in Bradford will be three per cent in 2015/16 and a further 4.5 per cent in 2016/17 across all types of school.

In the next financial year, budget gaps are predicted to be £140,000 a year for a five form entry secondary school, while the following year that figure will rise to £210,000.

For a nursery school it will be £20,000 in 2015/16 and £36,000 in 2016/17. Single form entry primary schools will have an average budget gap of £35,000 in 2015/16 and £50,000 the next year.

The report added: "Financial stability for individual schools will be critical is supporting the acceleration of outcomes for children and to meeting the district’s key education priority targets."

A spokesman for the Department For Education said: “We expect councils to plan effectively and make good investment decisions. We know that requires certainty, which is why we have announced funding allocations for 2017/18 well in advance.

“The £3.6 billion we have allocated for 2015 to 18 is based on the projected demand for school places all the way up to September 2018.”