BUCKS schools chief Mike Appleyard wants to know where new homes will be built in the next ten to 15 years in order to start planning for more school buildings.

In the next five years secondary school pupil numbers will go up by 3,000, but Buckinghamshire county councillor Appleyard says the LEA cannot get borrowing approval from the Government for new permanent buildings because numbers are set to drop after that.

The result could be a lot of temporary classrooms, which is not favoured by schools and the county council.

Cllr Appleyard told a meeting of the county council's cabinet on Monday that he would have evidence to back getting permanent buildings if he knew how many more homes would be built in Bucks districts as a result of the Government's latest proposals for growth in the years to 2016.

He stressed: "The fact is that we have a serious problem at secondary level in providing places."

He added: "If we have an ongoing permanent increase in pupil numbers, it could have a significant effect."

At the moment no one has a clue about precisely where the new homes will go.

Deputy council leader Cllr Bill Chapple said district housing numbers would not be looked at until the middle of the year.

Cllr Appleyard said the sooner the council had the figures the better. "Temporary classrooms go down extremely poorly in our secondary schools," he warned.