Council tax-payers could face a nine per cent increase in bills if Bradford Council goes ahead with its plan to pump £5million extra into schools.

For those living in a band D category house - those worth between £68,000 and £88,000 - that would mean bills jumping £72 a year to £880.91.

But the Council could face penalties running into hundreds of thousands of pounds if it goes above the 3.8 per cent council tax rise the Government says is acceptable.

The £5 million is totally unconnected with the City's massive education shake-up, which will see Bradford's three-tier system of schools change to two.

Council leaders announced the cash boost for schools in December saying it would go directly into the school budgets this March.

The Council received a small penalty last year after putting council tax bills up by 6.1 per cent instead of the 4.5 per cent Government recommendation.

The latest figures are in a budget report by City Finance Officer Steve Morris which will go to the executive committee on February 23.

Council leader Councillor Ian Greenwood said today: "There is absolutely no doubt the schools will get the funding. We will be looking at the other priorities and will make a decision in the near future on council tax."

Councillor David Ward (Lib Dem, Idle) said: "There is no need whatsoever for this huge increase. They are awash with funds and it is about good management.

"If our new chief executive Ian Stewart had been in place ten years ago there would be no need for this whatsoever."

Leader of the Council's Tory group Councillor Margaret Eaton said: "None of this would be so necessary if education had not been so consistently under funded in the past few years."

Mr Morris says in his report to members that the Council will need to spend an extra £19.6m to meet a standstill budget of £480m in the year beginning in March.

The standstill budget could be achieved through a 2.8 per cent council tax increase.

However, Mr Morris said a nine per cent increase would bring in an extra £5.1m.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.