BOLTON has developed a good track record for bringing in extra money for schools, according to the report.

The main funding for education is below average for metropolitan authorities, but the LEA is passing on all the Government money intended for schools.

The money is usually being targeted into the right areas and Bolton is praised for getting head teachers involved in the budget process and not spending too much on red tape.

However, the authorities are still holding too much back for central services such as special needs, and they should do more to persuade schools to take control of this cash and buy in services.

But Ofsted say an imaginative range of initiatives has brought in substantial extra money -- particularly to improve school buildings.

Bolton has managed to get above its fair share of cash under the New Deal for Schools programme and the project to bring in private funding at Castle Hill was also given a mention.

Ofsted says up until four years ago schools were being starved of cash for classroom repairs. But since then a new approach has managed to lever more money into the borough.