THE plans to merge two York secondary schools and expand a third have been put on hold pending changes in the way the Government funds school buildings.

City of York Council last year consulted with parents, pupils and teachers over proposals to rationalise schools in western York, following a drop in the number of primary school pupils.

Options included merging Lowfield and Oaklands schools and increasing the size of Manor School.

The council says now that the proposals will now be put on hold until the next bidding round to the Government next year, with admission arrangements for September 2005 operating as normal.

It said the delay had happened because the planned funding mechanism for the expansion of Manor School - a capital programme called Partnership for Church Schools - had been axed by the Department for Education and Science. The authority also needs clarification of other capital funding issues following the Chancellor's spending announcement earlier this week,

Director of education Patrick Scott, speaking after discussions with civil servants responsible for advising ministers about the school building programme, said: "During the consultation at the end of last year, I made clear that we would not take these proposals any further until we could guarantee the funding.

"The next opportunity to bid for funding will not be until the New Year, and it is worth waiting until then before making a final decision about what to do next.

"Whilst none of the schools have welcomed the uncertainty that has been created by this review, they have all managed to make sure that it is business as usual.

"I have been tremendously impressed by the professional way in which the staff have responded."

Updated: 14:12 Thursday, July 15, 2004