by political editor Paul Francis

County Hall finance chiefs have rejected a claim that KCC could be "pushed to the brink of bankruptcy" if a future Government pulled the plug on a massive school re-building programme.

The claim surrounds debts accrued from rebuilding schools under the Private Finance Initiative, where the private sector shoulders the immediate financial burden but charges the cost to the council over time, and with interest. County councillors have called for a report setting out the extent of the PFI debts.

Cllr Keith Ferrin (Con) said he was concerned that details of KCC’s liabilities were not set out in its annual accounts, as is permitted under accountancy rules.

He warned that if a future Government scrapped the re-building programme under the Building Schools for The Future (BSF) scheme, the council might be saddled with debts it would struggle to repay.

He told a meeting of KCC’s audit and governance committee: "I believe we are facing an absolutely huge issue with the BSF programme which in the longer term could be a real threat to the finances of the county council. Most members have absolutely no idea of the amount of money involved. We should have more transparency about the PFI contracts."

He added: "This is a serious issue because I believe that a future Government will pull out of BSF because the costs are so huge. We could be in a position where this takes us to the verge of bankruptcy."

But the claim was rebuffed by Cllr John Simmonds, KCC cabinet member for finance. He said the authority had taken steps to ensure other stages of school re-development would not be carried out under PFI.

"We have been very careful in future waves to ensure it is being funded entirely through the BSF scheme, not private finance initiative. We are aware of the PFI implications and are watching the liability elements very closely."

The council had decided to re-build schools through the BSF scheme as it was the only way to guarantee funding. "

Six secondary schools have been re-furbished and re-built under a PFI scheme valued at £82million. They are Maidstone’s Aylesford School; Ellington School in Ramsgate; Holmesdale Technology College, Maidstone; Hugh Christie Technology College, Tonbridge; the Malling School and Ashford’s North School.

Kent’s overall Building Schools for the Future Programme, the largest school building scheme in Europe, is worth an estimated £1.8billion.