Schools threatened with having unspent reserves clawed back by Bradford Council have won a reprieve.

Five Keighley-area schools together had been told they would have to pay back more than £90,000 unassigned to specific purposes.

But now they and other affected schools in the district have been granted an amnesty.

The biggest loser locally was set to be Strong Close Children’s Centre, which had been told to pay back £43,494. Others affected were Oakworth (£18,257), Guard House (£17,132), Oldfield (£13,440) and St Andrew’s (£1,538) primaries.

Among those who opposed the plans was Keighley East Labour Councillor Steve Pullen, who said the council’s “climb down” was a victory for common sense.

He said the amnesty had been called following a Labour group motion to last month’s council meeting, which raised concerns about how the money was identified and about the appeals process.

Cllr Pullen told the Keighley News: “Common sense has won the day and the money will now stay in Keighley, benefiting local children and families rather than falling into the financial black hole that is Bradford Council. Schools shouldn’t be sitting on vast piles of money but the council and Education Bradford have been inflexible and bureaucratic from the start.

“Some schools faced losses because they missed deadlines by a whisker while others were being penalised for being thrifty. In at least one case the administrative costs of taking the money back would probably be higher than the original sum of money in question.

“Now we need to look at how the system of financial management and monitoring and council support can be improved so that this fiasco doesn’t happen again.”

Cllr Michael Kelly — the council’s executive member for services to children and young people — confirmed that due to the number of concerns voiced, schools with surpluses would, for this financial year only, be able to keep the money.

He added: “The council will continue to work closely with the Schools Forum, which is a valued relationship, to strengthen the procedure for monitoring and supporting schools in managing their budgets.

“However, any surplus budgets for the next year will still be subject to a clear plan outlining what the money is intended for and schools will be given support in submitting their budget plans.

“As before, primary schools with a surplus balance of more than 8 per cent and secondary schools with a surplus of more than 5 per cent will continue to be asked to show clear plans to demonstrate an effective use of the resources.”