SCUNTHORPE headteacher Ewart Gibbs has blasted new Government plans to boost efficiency as 'insulting'.

Schools secretary Ed Balls has announced said school 'bursars' will be appointed to oversee four or five schools each across England to streamline management and maximise resources.

But Mr Gibbs, headteacher at Leys Farm Junior School, said: "You really can't make it up.

"What Ed Balls doesn't understand is that councils like North Lincolnshire are vastly under-funded and have been for years.

"The school's headteacher, business managers and governors are doing their very, very best with the limited funding available and this little sop to supposedly saving money - it's almost insulting."

Mr Balls said the bursars would be appointed over the next four years in an attempt to save £500-million from the schools budget by 2013.

Local authorities will be given £5-million to appoint the first 250 bursars next year.

Mr Balls said: "School bursars make a real difference, helping primary schools save up to £30,000 a year in some cases.

"We will only achieve efficiency savings while at the same time continuing to improve school standards and raising levels of achievement by working together."

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