I know that Havering is the local education authority which has received the largest cash and real term percentage reduction in the education standard spending assessment for 199596, but we cannot be accused of spending as little as Pounds 1,168 per primary pupil in 199394.
The discrepancy highlighted in the bar chart should have suggested something was amiss. Our published cost per primary pupil is Pounds 1,668 not Pounds 1,168.
Unfortunately, the wrong figure was inserted when national collation was undertaken by the Audit Commission.
Nevertheless, while the council is funding schools in excess of the education SSA and maximising the levels of delegation, the outcome for both primary and secondary sectors reflects that pupils in Havering are less generously served by Government grant than their counterparts in many other areas.
COLIN HARDY
Director of education community services
London Borough of Havering
The Broxhill Centre
Harold Hill
Romford