The Downs School has appealed to the Department for Education to intervene in the cash claw back row with West Berkshire Council. It says the council’s decision to demand £490k back from the school – much of it generated by fundraising efforts – was and is procedurally unfair. And it claims the ‘abrupt u-turn’ has required it to turn around information, subject to incredibly short deadlines, on committed balances with no view or consideration to its three-year budget projections or salary commitments. A lengthy letter has been sent to the Government outlining the school’s grievance with the co…