SCHOOLS in a financial deficit will now be able to become academies after Wiltshire Council agreed to allow them to convert their debts into a loan.

The government is aiming to turn all council controlled schools into academies but at the moment any school over budget will not be able to convert.

By allowing them to convert the deficit into loans it removes one of the major barriers of the conversion process.

In Wiltshire there are 171 council controlled schools as opposed to 73 academies. It comes after the government U-turned earlier this month on a pledge to force all schools to convert by 2020.

Wiltshire Council approved the move at cabinet last Tuesday and it is expected to affect only a small number of schools.

Portfolio holder Richard Gamble said schools in Wiltshire did “brilliantly” considering they get less funding than most other regions in the country and this would allow all schools to become academies if they so wished. He added the council maintained a neutral stance on the academisation of schools