Liberal Democrat councillors were accused of "innuendoes, half-truths and making-up figures" when they claimed that deficit budgets in Bradford's schools had risen by more than £500,000.

Councillor David Ward (Lib-Dem, Idle) came under attack from Labour when he said the total amount of debts incurred by the struggling schools in the latest financial year was forecast to be more than £4.8 million.

He said his group's own analysis showed a bleak picture with debts to upper schools rising by 36 per cent in the last two years from £1.873 million to £2.638 million.

He claimed special schools had been forced to go into debt this year by £114,889, while last year no special schools had requested a deficit budget.

Coun Ward claimed that overall the amounts of debt had increased from £4,104 to £4,618 - an increase of 12.5 per cent.

But his claims were disputed by deputy council leader Councillor Mohammed Ajeeb who said the Liberal Democrats were "simply a group of protesters and not doers".

He said the figures they had given were made up.

The Council's neighbourhood forums system also came under attack during the three-and-a-half-hour meeting.

Tories and Liberal Democrats highlighted the high cost of the forums and called for more real "people power" in the communities.

Councillor Richard Wightman (Con, Rombalds) pointed out that the Council's Neighbourhood Forums were costing more than £160 for every member of the public who turned up.

He said the forums - which were supposed to give local people a direct say in Council matters - were costing tax payers a total of £1 million to run.

But he claimed a total of 2,304 people attended the forums over the last summer period.

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