EDUCATION chiefs in Bucks are annoyed about figures from a headteachers' organisation which claim the county council spends less on primary school children than almost any other LEA in the country.

They argue that the statistics, published in the Sunday Times, contradict figures the council was given by the Audit Commission, which shows higher spending on primary school eduction.

The National Association of Head Teachers' (NAHT) figures said Bucks spent £1,620 for every primary school pupil in the county - the third worst rate in the country. Top spenders were three London boroughs, Kensington and Chelsea, Tower Hamlets and Southwark.

For primary children over five the Bucks figures are £1,890, compared with the county council average of £1,908. The average for all LEAs is £2,032.

Cllr Mike Appleyard, Buckinghamshire County Council cabinet member for schools, said: "The trouble with statistics is that results can be dramatically different, depending on on what you take into account."

Consultant George Phipson, who compiled the NAHT statistics, said the problem arose for Bucks because of the way the data he used was collected.

He based his figures on data supplied every year to the DfEE by LEAs.

He said in Bucks, the figures were distorted because the council still ran a middle school system, which the DfEE didn't recognise.

Mr Phipson added: "Every middle school in the land has to be technically a secondary or a primary school.

"What will have happened is that is that middle schools will have been defined as secondary."

Education resource head at Bucks Alan Mander said the latest Audit Commission figures showed the county as an average spender.