DISABLED pupils in East Lancashire will find getting around school easier in future thanks to a major cash boost.

A cash injection of more than £1.25million aimed at improving disabled access to schools across the county was announced yesterday by Schools Minister Jacqui Smith.

The money will be used to carry out improvements to mainstream schools, from installing lifts and ramps for children with mobility impairments to sound field systems for deaf children and better signposting for partially sighted and blind students. Education bosses at Lancashire County Council saw their annual Schools Access Initiative (SAI) allocation rise from £630,000 to £1,045,800 from April while Blackburn with Darwen education authority's cash pot will be £232,400.

Exactly where and how the money will be spent has yet to be decided.

Hazel Harding, chairman of Lancashire's education committee, said: "I'm delighted that the Government is supporting our commitment to improve educational standards for all children.

"These projects will help remove barriers children with disabilities have experienced enabling them to achieve their full potential.

"Lancashire County Council and the Government are committed to a policy of social inclusion which seeks to maximise opportunities for every section of the community and this announcement demonstrates we are turning words into actions."

John Challenor, head of St Bede's RC High School, Blackburn, where one Year 8 pupil is wheelchair bound and another three pupils in wheelchairs are set to start in September, struck a cautious note.

"Schools should make every effort not to discriminate against disabled pupils. The authority has got a good track record on this, certainly as far as we're concerned, but the trouble is the pie's not big enough. This amount isn't going to go far when you consider we installed a lift 11 years ago and it cost £100,000 then.

"Every school has a problem because when they were built they didn't take into consideration adapting them for disabled children."

The cash allocation was the first tranche of £220 million that will be available nationally over the next three years. Funding for disability access to schools has increased five-fold since 1996/97.

The Special Educational Needs and Disability Bill, currently working its way through Parliament, will place a duty on education authorities and schools to increase accessibility and the curriculum to disabled children.