A TRUST has forked out almost £50,000 of public cash on uniform for an academy which has not yet been given the go-ahead.

The Academies Enterprise Trust has already spent nearly half of its £90,000 budget for new school uniform for students at the proposed Coast Academy in Clacton.

The planned academy looks set to replace Bishops Park College and Colbayns High School.

Mike Barnett, a spokesman for the Academies Enterprise Trust, said it had a budget of £60 for each of the planned academy’s 1,500 students in years 7 to 11, to provide free uniforms.

He estimated they had spent half of that on blazers, shirts and ties.

Mr Barnett said the trust had to spend the cash to be sure the new school’s uniform would be ready for the return to school in early September.

He said: “We needed to make up an early order for the blazers, shirts and ties to make sure we were ready for the start of term.

“The academy would not make a proper impact if the students were out of uniform.”

He said the trust had got extremely positive feedback from the Government’s Department for Children, Schools and Families and expected the academy plans to be rubber-stamped next week. Mr Barnett added it is standard policy to provide free uniform when an academy replaces a school, to compensate parents.

The rest of the cash would be spent of new sports clothing and equipment, but will only be ordered and paid for after the new academy receives approval.

Essex County Council put forward plans to turn the schools into an academy on the back of poor results and falling pupil numbers at Bishops Park College.