HARROW Council will have to make up £6.3 million after officers blew the lid off the budget for two major schools projects.

A handful of staff “systematically” stripped money away from a series of schemes to pay for overspending on the “iconic” rebuild of Whitmore High School and a separate project for new sixth form blocks at nine schools.

They did not tell managers costs had escalated and the authority must now find a way to plug the £6.3m gap in its capital budget, money reserved for one-off major projects.

No concrete decision has yet been made on how to plug the gap but officers say the likely outcome will involve stripping money out of investments that would otherwise have brought in £120,000 a year.

Several employees face internal disciplinary investigations but independent auditors have reviewed their conduct and say no evidence of fraud or personal gain has been found.

Investigations have not placed any blame on the schools involved.

Michael Lockwood, chief executive of the council, said: “The cost I will ensure does not impact on front line services. We will make sure these extra costs will be covered internally.

“This was our mistake and residents shouldn't be penalised for that.”

Councillor Bill Stephenson, leader of the council, promised the money would not be made up through a rise in council tax.

He said: “I feel very disappointed that some staff have let us down, have let down the other council staff and have let down local residents.”

He added: “We wouldn't have overspent the budget if they had gone through proper procedures.”

The development at Whitmore High, in Porlock Avenue, was supposed to be funded predominantly by the Government but when complications developed officers pumped money in from elsewhere so it would be finished on time.

They did not tell their bosses and the tactic was repeated during a separate project, which included new sixth form blocks at nine high schools in the borough.

The schools included on the list are: Bentley Wood, Canons High, Harrow High, Hatch End, Nower Hill, Park High, Rooks Heath, Whitmore High, and a joint scheme at Salvatorian College and Sacred Heart Language College.

Finance officers and staff within the property section of the Community and Environment department found out what was happening but did not stop it and did not raise the issue higher up the food chain.

By the time it was picked up the council was facing an overspend of £7.8m on those projects, which was whittled down to £6.3m for the budget for the entire year.

In some cases schemes were either started late or deferred to help close the gap.

Rita Greenwood, who carried out an independent review into the overspend, said channeling money to the wrong projects was done “systematically” because officers had a genuine determination to get the project finished on time.

She said: “There appears to have been a general belief by those involved within Children's Services and Community and Environment that these were flagship projects that were to provide iconic buildings and that these had to be delivered within a certain timescale.”