SOUTHAMPTON City Council is beating national targets for the proportion of its education budget which is spent directly on pupils.
The authority is top of its comparator group - and tenth in the country for the amount of government grant and council tax money which is spent on the day-to-day running of schools rather than on the local authority's administration costs.
Recent figures published by the Department for Education and Skills show that 86.63 per cent of cash is delegated to schools within the city - this equates to £2,672 per pupil.
This is just over 1.5 per cent higher than the government target of 85 per cent.
The local authority spends just £47 per pupil on central administration costs. This is well below the average for unitary authorities and just one per cent above the national average.
It is also £14 below the maximum target figure set out by the government of £60 per pupil for central strategic management.
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