A SCHOOL trust is warning it could be forced to turn off heating in the winter to save money as skyrocketing energy costs savage their budget.

The Saffron Academy Trust (SAT) has written to parents to warn them of their perilous financial position.

The trust runs nine schools including Alec Hunter Academy and Beckers Green Primary School in Braintree, and the Honywood School in Coggeshall.

But, in the letter, it says the funding for these schools is set to be impacted.

Each spring, the school funding is set by the Government and then the trust writes its own budget to cover the academic year.

These budgets anticipate salary costs, which SAT say absorbs about 80 per cent of all income, and the costs of running a school, including heating, lighting and maintaining the premises.

SAT has said it budgeted for a 100 per cent increase in utility costs but over the summer, the picture has changed considerably with utility costs escalating.

Whilst most of SAT’s gas contracts are fixed for another year, this is not the case for electricity which is now anticipated to be twice what the trust budgeted for.

A conservative estimate by SAT suggests the additional costs will be £1.2 million higher than they were when the trust set the budget.

As a result, if the matter is not addressed by the Government, the trust says it may have to make “unpalatable decisions”.

This includes limiting the use of heating during the winter, increasing class sizes, reducing staff and asking parents for voluntary contributions to pay for resources.

Writing to parents, SAT chief executive officer Caroline Derbyshire said: “All schools now find themselves in the same position.

"Unless the Government addresses this sizeable funding shortfall immediately, schools across the country, including our own, will have no option but to make unpalatable decisions about cutting some of the rich provisions that we make available.

“These measures are the very last things that any school leader wishes to impose because they may impact the quality of education that we offer.

“It would be far better for financial help to be provided in this crisis by the Government.

“What we do know is that the voice of school leaders is never as carefully listened to as the voices of our parents.

“Please use all of the influence that you have to help schools gain this additional financial support.”