JOBS were cut at four Keighley-district Bradford Council-run schools in the past 18 months, it has been revealed.

Across the Bradford area 21 schools saw staff made redundant, and one teaching union is warning that more will follow in 2016.

Most of the axed posts were support staff or manual workers such as cleaners and groundskeepers.

No details are kept by the authority of redundancy levels at academies or free schools.

Keighley-area schools where jobs went were Aire View Infant School at Silsden, Parkside School in Cullingworth – which lost five officers/APTC (administrative, professional, technical and clerical) staff – and Parkwood Primary and Strong Close Nursery School, Keighley.

The National Union of Teachers (NUT) believes this year will see more redundancies as schools struggle to balance their budgets while keeping the same staffing levels.

And that warning is echoed by the councillor in charge of the district’s schools, who believes a new schools funding formula imposed by the Government will disadvantage Bradford.

Councillor Susan Hinchcliffe said: “Costs are rising for schools all the time. What worries me is the New Funding Formula, which Government has said it will consult on in the next few months.

“Every indication is that this new funding distribution will represent a poor deal for Bradford-district schools, while whilst other more affluent areas of the country will receive more money.

“This can’t be right. As soon as the New Formula is announced I’ll be making strong representations to Government on Bradford’s behalf.”

Ian Murch, Bradford spokesman for the NUT, said the union had been involved in several consultations with the district's schools where jobs were under threat.

He said: “It is because of cost pressures and what the Government is doing with school budgets.

“For typical secondary schools, they are probably looking at having to save around £500,000 a year, and you can’t make those savings without reducing staff. In some schools you could see 20, 30 staff that have to go.

“It is not that schools are behaving irresponsibly – they just have to save money.”

Last year Bradford Schools’ Forum discussed the issue of school budgets.

The group, made up of heads and other school leaders, heard that a combination of rising wages, increased pension contributions, hikes in the price of goods and services and the implementation of the living wage meant school budgets faced large budget shortfalls in the coming years..

On average each school would face the equivalent of a 7.5 per cent budget shortfall reduction in their budgets, with rising wages and higher pension contributions partly to blame.

The forum heard that schools would quickly fall into the red if staff cuts were not made.