It's hardly surprising that head teachers in Bradford are anxious at the news that they will need to find almost an extra £1 million between them to cover the cost of rising insurance premiums in the coming year.

Following two big fires at Iqra and Carlton Bolling schools last year, insurers say they have no choice but to increase premiums in view of Bradford's claims totalling about £6 million.

The real concern for head teachers is that these increased premiums, averaging £3,820 for a primary school and £21,718 for a secondary school, will have to come from their existing budgets - which in many cases are already considerably stretched. In the case of secondary schools, the additional cost would virtually cover the salary of a teacher for a whole year.

The almost fourfold increase in charges is an especially bitter blow as apparently it can't be paid from any central fund because the hike came after the Council had settled its budget.

Perhaps what is more alarming is that nobody in the Council appears to have put two and two together and worked out that premiums were likely to rise because of all the claims that went in last year. That is surely not something that would have been overlooked in any private business.

The finance officers are said to be still hopeful that premiums can be reduced by further negotiations and are asking insurers to give earlier notice next year of any likely increase. There's nothing like locking the school door after the arsonist has bolted.