Every building owned by Oxfordshire County Council - including schools - could be sold to private companies if a Conservative idea goes ahead.

But other political groups say the plan amounts to selling off the family silver.

The idea, known as 'priming', would involve the council selling its buildings to private firms and then leasing them back at an agreed rent.

The sale would generate millions of pounds which could be used, for example, to pay off the council's debts. But once that money was gone the council would have to find funds from other sources to continue paying for use of the buildings.

Conservative group leader Charles Shouler was today asking members of the strategy and resources committee to agree to spend £25,000 on a feasibility study by outside experts.

He told the Oxford Mail: "I hate to use the word visionary, but this is a new approach to the financial management of this authority."

"Because it's new people will say they don't want to know, but if you look at council meetings or school governing body meetings they are peppered with property matters. Wouldn't it be better if we spent more time thinking about the quality and delivery of services?"

The idea found little favour with other political parties.

Critics said the scheme only considered the short-term, would involve selling public assets to the profit-driven private sector, would be inflexible, and could lead to the council spending more than it saved.

The county council has already agreed to sell its commercial services arm, responsible for catering and cleaning, and dispose of its old people's homes which will be transferred to a non-profit-making trust. Stephanie Ouzman, Liberal Democrat spokesman, said: "It smells a little of selling off the family silver, particularly when it comes to schools.

"First reactions weren't terribly favourable. We could find it it is going to cost far too much in the long term to lease everything back, and what if the county's needs change? - 20 years is a long time to tie yourself into a lease."

The Tories argued that the county could not afford to maintain its premises properly and any private company which bought a building would be responsible for its upkeep. The Green Party's Craig Simmons agreed there was a financial problem with property maintenance but said priming was inflexible and inefficient.

"It wouldn't allow us to make best use of our buildings. With a school, for example, it's important to be able to combine its use with after-schools clubs or youth centres," he added.

Brian Hodgson, leader of the Labour group, said: "It reminds me of what my old MP used to say about selling off the family silver - and he was that well-known Conservative Harold Mac- millan."

"The set-up costs will be very considerable and even the temptation of its being helpful in the short term isn't necessarily the case."

The Department of Social Security has a priming arrangement for about 800 of its buildings, which it set up in December 1997, and the Inland Revenue and Customs and Excise are considering the idea.

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