THE increase in teachers' pay next year will cost Buckinghamshire County Council's education department £1.2 million more than it budgeted for.

The money will have to come from the schools' budget.

Mike Appleyard, the county council's cabinet member for schools, said: "We had hoped to give £1.8 million to schools in disadvantaged areas, but with greater teachers' pay we changed that."

The council based its schools' budget on a pay rise of three per cent for teachers. But last week the figure announced nationally was 3.7 per cent and Cllr Appleyard said that with a higher increase for new recruits the total cost to the county would be four per cent.

"And there will be no government grant to pay for this, even though Bucks, like many other authorities had budgeted three per cent," he said

Cllr Appleyard said Bucks could meet the extra costs but it meant that instead of £1.8 million extra for schools, there would only be £600,000, of which 70 per cent would go to primary schools.