School funding 'biased against affluent areas'

A dispute over school spending broke out today amid claims that pupils in some of the more affluent areas are losing out.

New figures reveal some comprehensives are given far more money for teachers, books and computers than others.

Supporters of the system say deprived areas need more cash to help them achieve good results, but councils with the lowest grants claim their pupils are being unfairly discriminated against.

They say they are forced to plunder cash from other services to ensure children do not miss out.

The huge differences in spending per pupil across London are revealed in the Local Government Settlement for 2005-2006. Some councils have more than £1,700 per pupil than others. The council with the most generous settlement is Tower Hamlets, with £4,155 per primary school pupil and £5,051 per secondary pupil.

By contrast, Bromley has only £2,531 per primary pupils, and £3,300 per secondary pupil.

Other areas with big budgets are the City of London, Hackney, Islington and Westminster, all considered to have high levels of deprivation. Councils at the bottom of the league are mostly in aff luent areas, such as Kingston, Richmond, Surrey, and Bexley.

In apparent anomalies, however, wealthy Kensington and Chelsea receives far more cash for schools than Barking and Dagenham, while Islington, which has some very affluent areas, is fourth top of the spending league.

Today education chiefs defended the settlement. Schools Minister David Miliband said: "Local education authorities with a greater proportion of pupils with additional educational needs will receive a higher level of funding per pupil."

But Conservative MP Michael Fabricant, who obtained the figures, said: "It is very unfair that a child's future can be determined by his or her postcode. Deprived areas should receive extra funding, but is the balance right?"

Councils with the lowest budgets say they face a struggle to give pupils the quality of education they deserve.

Nicholas True, deputy leader of Richmond council said: "Education is a top priority for us and we are determined our pupils won't lose out. We bend over backwards to get the money from somewhere. But it means other services suffer, and council tax remains high."