Three Bradford schools could have to pay back a total of more than £32,000 in surpluses.

The move comes after one third of maintained schools in the district were found to have a combined £4.3 million over the permitted threshold in unspent funds.

At the end of the last financial year, 62 Bradford Council-run schools held balances in excess of the amount allowed nationally – up to five per cent of yearly budgets for secondary schools and eight per cent for primary schools.

The Council’s Schools Forum has approved recommendations by its Schools Financial Performance Group that the authority’s ‘clawback’ policy should be applied to Blakehill Primary School, for £10,365 unspent, Hirst Wood Nursery School, for a £16,488 surplus, and St Bede’s Catholic Grammar School, for £5,525 unspent.

A report, due to go before the Council’s Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Committee on Wednesday and the Executive Committee next month, recommends clawback should not be applied to Bingley Grammar School, Hothfield Junior School, Miriam Lord Primary School and St William RC Primary School for surpluses totalling £87,151, as well as Laisterdyke Business and Enterprise College for £285,363 unspent.

The total value of balances held by schools in the district has increased over the last four years, from £19.4 million in 2008 to £25.3 million last year.

But Councillor Ralph Berry, the Council’s executive member for children’s services, said: “At this point in time, as we face further hardship, it would be worrying if schools didn’t have money in reserves.

“This is an element of prudent financial management to see them into a challenging financial period. I don’t believe there’s a misuse of money so long as it is earmarked against specific plans. There has to be an account given for it.”

Governing bodies are required to assign the full value of surpluses above five or eight per cent to schemes and submit evidence to the authority.