WELSH councils have banked a windfall of more than £22m from the sale of school sites and land in the last three years.
But not all the cash has been ploughed back into education, Plaid Cymru will claim today.
The figures show that some authorities put the receipts from sales into its corporate pots rather than specifically allocating the money for education.
Rhondda received income of almost £10m over the last three financial years. while Monmouthshire council pocketed £2m, Pembrokeshire almost £2m and Wrexham received £1.137m from the sale of surplus land.
Inquiries by Plaid AM Leanne Wood showed many more school sites were set to be sold.
Ms Wood, AM for South Wales Central, said: “I don’t think it is acceptable that the proceeds go straight into the general capital programme without any commitment to education.”
Wrexham council has not disposed of any school sites during the period, but it has disposed of surplus land at two of its school sites, with £312,000 reinvested into the school and the remainder committed to the Secondary Schools Reorganisation Project.
No school sites were sold during the 2005-8 period on Anglesey or in Gwynedd.
Conwy sold one 3.5-acre site, at Schoolbank Road in Llanrwst, vacant after a new build financed under PFI.
The site was sold to a Registered Social Landlord (RSL) for £895,000. The land was not in the ownership of the council, a charitable trust was therefore established to manage the proceeds for the educational benefit. The site is to be used as an extra care housing scheme.
In Denbighshire, one school site was sold at Graianrhyd school which formed part of Ysgol Bro Fammau. Some £65,500 was used to fund other school projects. The playing field remains a community facility.
