A SPATE of teachers retiring early and taking redundancy has left council bosses facing a shock bill of more than £500,000.

Schools across Staffordshire have made more redundancies and accepted more early retirements in 2011/12 than Staffordshire County Council expected.

The authority has no control over school salaries or staffing decisions, but it is responsible for funding and covering the cost of school redundancy and retirement payouts.

The budget used to cover such costs is set to be £565,000 overspent as a result of the departures, which the council has blamed on financial pressures at the county's schools.

Figures show the total bill for redundancies at schools in Staffordshire could rise to more than £9 million by 2017.

County Councillor Liz Staples, cabinet member for education and skills, pictured right, said: "The schools' premature retirement budget has a £565,000 pressure as a result of higher numbers of school staff taking premature retirement or redundancy.

"Schools may need to do this for a number of reasons, including falling school pupil numbers or financial pressures.

"This financial year has seen a higher than budgeted number of premature retirements and redundancies, mainly due to school reorganisations and the ending of the school sports partnership grant."

The figures were discussed by the Conservative-run authority's cabinet at a meeting yesterday.

Council leader Philip Atkins said: "There is pressure on the budget from premature retirements. We pick up the early retirements from schools.

"It's a case where somebody else makes a decision and shunts the cost on to us. It's something we have tried to avoid."

The news comes after opposition councillors last week called on the authority to use £846,000 in savings to cancel new travel charges for college and sixth form students.

Those changes, which were approved despite the bid to stop them, will save £300,000 next year and £600,000-per-year when they are rolled out to 1,300 youngsters.

Speaking about the £565,000 overspend, Christina Jebb, leader of the opposition Liberal Democrats, said: "I'm disappointed to learn they are faced with a challenge which is not of their own making.

"But they refused to accept our amendment on the transport charges and so they could probably fund it from that.

"I sympathise that they have to find the money for this, but we identified more than they will need."

The county council's 2012/13 budget will see savings of £25 million, as part of plans to claw back £120 million over four years.