education chiefs across the South had mixed fortunes today in the first ever national league tables comparing the spending of local education authorities. The controversial "naming and shaming" list brought criticism from education secretary David Blunkett for the Isle of Wight but praise for both Hampshire and Portsmouth.

The Island council was among 31 authorities delegating less than 80 per cent of its available local schools budget to schools, whereas Hampshire and Portsmouth were among a top flight of 18 delegating more than 85 per cent.

Civic chiefs in Southampton have defended the city's lower figure of 83.6 per cent, claiming the tables fail to show the benefits of local agreements.

Simon Lucas, head of education policy and planning, said: "There are some things that schools have asked us not to delegate because they want to continue funding centrally. We are delegating very favourably. We are certainly not delegating less proportionate to the amount of new money that has been made available.

"Those LEAs where there is a question mark over the passporting of money will be receiving a visit from the DfEE and Southampton is not one of them."

Hampshire's education officer Andrew Seber welcomed the figures, saying: "The information will need to be refined over time but it is useful to have an idea of where other local authorities stand so that we can learn from each other."

The county's education chairman, Councillor Don Allen, said: "The overall picture for Hampshire is one of a county council determined to support high quality educational provision. This should encourage the government to invest more."

Mr Blunkett, who vowed to tighten targets next year, claimed the figures painted "a telling picture".

He said: "There has always been a difference between authorities' spending on red tape and the amount they have passed onto schools but this is the first government to publish all the data clearly and take measures to deal with it."

But the tables have sparked an outcry.

Shadow education secretary Theresa May said most red tape came from Mr Blunkett's own office, while Graham Lane, education chairman of the Local Government Association, said the figures were based on flawed data.

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