If Oxfordshire County Council wanted to cause alarm about the future facing our primary schools this week it has succeeded.

The prospect of our children again having to be taught in temporary buildings in schools with little recreational space, that parents had not put down as their first choice in the first place, is an unhappy one.

But that is the wretched glimpse of the future that we are given by council leader Ian Hudspeth. It is not the immediate future.

For money has been available to expand a number of schools in recognition for big increases in pupil numbers and the need for parents to see their first choice satisfied. The council, however, is accusing the Government of cutting back on funding for the years 2015/16, 2016/17 and beyond.

The way that state education in this country is funded makes it near impossible for most parents to understand, and it seems that councillors and officers too can often struggle. Perfect, in fact, for playing the blame game and baffling with figures for all sides.

In this instance it is difficult to establish whether any firm promise has been broken, or whether it is a case of County Hall assuming the county’s school building needs would be fully recognised, in the face of the rising population forecast. In the current climate, it is certainly risky for any local authority to take any ongoing capital funding for granted.

Councils should long ago have acquainted themselves with the art of new funding announcements, actually being about old money for example.

The two clear things to emerge are that the pressure on classroom places is going to continue and that there is still time for County Hall to make its case to the MP for Witney and his colleagues.

Mr Hudspeth is at least wise enough to raise the issue in good time.