County education chiefs today welcomed a Budget promise to channel extra funding directly into secondary and primary schools.

But health bosses are treating Gordon Brown's £2bn shot in the arm with caution until they are sure of what the cash will mean for Oxfordshire.

Chancellor Gordon Brown has earmarked £1bn to improve education standards, with most of the money being paid directly to headteachers in grants.

The one-off payment will bypass local education authorities, allowing the Government to exert influence on how schools spend money without having it approved by county education officers.

Oxfordshire's education spokesman John Mitchell said: "It is new money so it will not alter the existing mechanism for funding. In addition to that, it remains to be seen how it exactly works out, but if it is new money it is good news. "On the face of it, it could be used by schools for more or less anything, decided by the headteacher and the school governors."

Under the new cash plans, a typical secondary school will receive a direct grant of £40,000 in the year from April, with primary schools receiving top-up grants of up to £9,000 each. Primary schools with fewer than 100 pupils will get an extra £3,000. Special schools will each get an extra £15,000.

Meanwhile, the county health authority is waiting to hear how much of the new NHS funding it will receive.

Oxfordshire has already revealed it expects to be £19m in debt by March 2001 because of the severe pressures hospitals and other services are under.

But despite the huge cash injection, Oxfordshire Health Authority is still too wary to celebrate.

Spokesman Steve Argent said: "A lot of money will be targeted, such as towards waiting lists and winter pressures, which will be great for patients. "We are being cautiously optimistic. Each year all the hospital trusts put in bids for what they need and we can't afford to give all of the cash they want.

"If the shopping list is too big, they can't expect Champagne if we've only got sparkling wine."

Story date: Thursday 23 March

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