| “The Board did not agree a final scheme but indicated, having been put in the position by the Department of Education’s under funding, that with the greatest reluctance it could agree to savings of the order of £6.75million.
“The Board Chairman Mrs Moira Alexander was requested to seek a meeting with Northern Ireland Education Minister Barry Gardiner MP or Secretary of State Paul Murphy MP seeking an additional half a million pounds which might allow the Board to finalise a spending plan.
“The Board agreed to reconvene on March 10 with a view to finalising its spending plan for the year beginning April 1, 2005 .
“The SELB’s financial target is to remain within budget for the year ending March 31, 2005 . Making imposed cuts of £3.6million this year, the Board expects to meet this target.
“The largest element of the cuts in the present financial year was £3.3million in planned maintenance. For the year beginning April 1, 2005 , the Board is again considering a £3.5million cut from planned maintenance.
“Other savings options are spread across a number of services including Catering, Transport (including School Crossing Patrols), Headquarters, Curriculum Advisory Support Service, Resource Centres, Music Service, Special Education, School Library Provision. It is proposed that savings would be made through reviewing a range of services, reducing staff costs and increasing charges for services provided by the Board where this is feasible.”
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