Eduscation leaders spent the second lowest amount of money in England on children in Brighton and Hove primary schools last year, a survey has claimed.

The GMB union said the city council had spent just £2,044 per child in 2002/03 compared to the City of London which splashed out almost double at £5,349.

The only authority to spend less, according to the union, was Reading at £1,735 per child and Bury was third lowest with £2,055.

But Brighton and Hove City Council disputed the figure, arguing that, due to the Government's restructuring of the way funding is given to local authorities for education, the average spending on all pupils in the city - not just primary schoolchildren - was now £2,951. A spokesman also insisted the complex changes, under the new Schools Formula spending share, meant spending in the 2002/03 academic year and spending in 2003/04 could not be accurately compared.

The council's latest average of £2,951 would place the city's spending at 47th out of all the local authorities in the country, a big improvement on the second to bottom position.

The spokesman said spending on each primary school pupil had gone up to £2,100 this academic year and was set to rise to £2,249 in 2004/05.

He said: "As a result of the spending share, we as an authority lost out. We received the lowest increase available."

The spokesman said the city's spending on education in 2002/03 was similar to that in Reading but the authority should have still been ranked higher up than second lowest.

The Government is set to announce a five-year plan for education today.

Schools may be given total control of their budget, practically phasing out local education authorities.