Schools occupy spacious premises, often at the very heart of local communities. It seems a great waste for them to be used only during school hours and left to stand unoccupied in the evenings, at weekends and throughout the school holidays.

The pilot scheme due to be introduced in Bradford with the help of £565,000 of Government money will enable ten schools to become, in effect, community centres able to offer child care, health classes, adult education and social clubs for the elderly while also sharing their sports facilities with non-school groups.

It is a very sensible use of resources. Many districts and villages lack a suitable hall where a range of local events and activities can be held. Yet a place of that sort can be an important focal point, enabling people to meet each other and encouraging a sense of belonging which is too often lacking nowadays.

There might well be a bonus, too, in terms of the amount of vandalism to schools, which recently in Bradford have had to suffer a spate of arson attacks and other serious damage. A school which is in use at evenings and weekends, with people coming and going, should be less vulnerable.

However, if these new "extended schools" prove a success, it is important that they are not put at risk when the current funding comes to an end. They are being set up with money from the Government and from the Neighbourhood Learning and Deprived Communities fund. Work needs to start now to find sources of funding that can guarantee their future once that runs out.