EDUCATION bosses in Bolton say Government proposals to bring in private firms to run failing schools hold no fear for the authority.

A Government White Paper revealed by Education Minister Estelle Morris this week suggests radical changes to the running of thousands of secondary schools across the country with plans to bring in "outside partners" to reverse the fortunes of failing schools.

Ms Morris said that the public sector -- in the guise of the Local Education Authority (LEA) -- could not deliver "top quality" education alone.

And under the new proposals, schools which are deemed to be persistently failing will be taken out of the control of the LEA and placed into the hands of private enterprise.

In Bolton, plans are already underway to create the town's first privately built school at the Castle Hill Centre in Tonge Moor.

The £11m project, part of the Government's pre-exisiting Private Finance Initiative, will see ancillary services such as catering and cleaning being placed into the hands of private enterprise but the education delivered will remain in the hands of the LEA.

The National Union of Teachers has condemned the move towards the privatisation of schools.

Bolton-based NUT regional secretary Richard Palfreyman described the move as "a slap in the face" for any LEA who faced a school being taken out of its control.

He said: "Any move which sees education being taken out of the public sector and placed in the hands of companies who believe they can make a profit from running a school is a dangerous path to go down.

"I certainly don't want to see the day when pupils' exercise books have advertising and sponsorship from different companies on them.

"The Government should be looking at its own example of how it and the LEAs have improved our primary schools and they should be applying it to the secondary schools by providing them with extra resources rather than taking them out of LEA control.

"We do not think this sends to right message to authorities to suggest that schools could be taken away from them."

The plans are just one of a series of changes in the White Paper which also calls for a greater number of schools being transformed into specialist schools -- which excel in subjects such as science, sport and engineering.

But Bolton LEA has already achieved the Government targets laid down in the paper of 40 per cent of secondary schools being transformed into specialist schools.

Members of Bolton's LEA now have until November to discuss the proposals and pass on their comments to the Government.

Cllr Linda Thomas, executive member for education, promised a full and open debate on the subject.

She said: "The White Paper contains more proposals than just privatising schools and we need to look at it in its entirety.

"In a way this could be seen as the Government throwing down the gauntlet to the authorities and it certainly holds no fear for us.

"We had a good Ofsted report last year and we aim to continue to raise standards in Bolton's schools by providing the best support and guidance to ensure children have the best quality education through the public sector. She added: "There will be positive aspects to putting some of the responsibility for schools into the private sector. It could, for example, make it easier for schools to set up such things as pre and after school clubs which they may find difficult at the moment."