It seems strange that organisations which save money in these straitened times can sometimes attract criticism for being prudent.

But there are reasons why primary schools are expected to save no more than eight per cent of their budget and secondary schools no more than five per cent.

The news that 60 schools have stashed away a total of £27.6 million more than they should have has, therefore, caused a certain amount of consternation.

Schools are allocated their budgets to meet the educational needs of children, both in terms of the day-to-day process of running the school and also for ongoing capital projects to develop them for the future.

What they should not be doing with their budget allocation is squirreling away cash.

But there are concerns that that is what is happening with some of the district’s schools at the moment.

With more local government cuts looming and increasing fears that education budgets – largely protected so far – may be hit, it is not surprising that the temptation is there to horde some of the surplus money.

Any school found to be hoarding more cash than it should be must be able to justify what it plans to spend it on.

With every penny of public expenditure already being stretched, all of it has to be fully justified.

These schools have to make the sums add up.

If they do have surplus cash, it must be used to improve the education services they are offering, and not kept under the mattress for a rainy day.