A TARGET to close the school achievement gap between rich and poor has been missed in Buckinghamshire.

Just 48.6 per cent of children aged seven to 11 that were entitled to free school meals – the measure for low income – got the expected grade.

This is compared to 80 per cent of non-free school meal children – “way below” target.

This narrows to 48.6 and 65.6 per cent in 14 to 16-year-olds.

And Buckinghamshire County Council also failed to meet a target to keep council tax down.

However, it met most targets, 66 per cent, for a range of services, in 2008/09.

Education boss Sue Imbriano said: “We have this as a priority to close the gap in achievement between that group of young people and their peers.”

Mrs Imbriano, director of children’s services, said: “There are extensive action plans and implementation plans.”

As education authority, the council is among the top in England.

Liberal Democrat leader Mary Baldwin said: “There has been that gap for the 12 years I have been a councillor and probably longer, they have not managed to close it.

“I don’t believe they have done anything seriously about it.

“As long as we have top performing schools and we are making headlines, what is happening elsewhere they don’t seem to care about.”

Not enough expelled children got 21 hours or more of alternative tuition a week, the 2008/09 figures show.

Mrs Imbriano said the service had been re-contracted. “It does remain a challenge with young people complex needs,” she said.

Click the link at the bottom of this story for details of all targets.

The authority also failed to set its share of the council tax – about two-thirds of the final bill – “at or below the average increases” of county authorities in the South East.

It raised its share by 4.5 per cent instead of an average 3.5 per cent. This was an extra £43.88 on an average band D property, pushing the total bill to £1,018.91.

Council leader David Shakespeare said this year’s figure, 2009/10, was down to 3.7 per cent and “in cash terms our average band D is lower than anyone in the South East”.

The number of 16 to 18-year-olds NEETS – not in education, employment or training – was below target “as a direct consequence of downturn” councillors were also told.

Yet the council has a good score for the number of NEETS is does not know about – which Mrs Imbriano said is a “tremendous achievement”.

Eight per cent of all targets were “just below” expected while 21 per cent were “well below”.

Targets that had been met, 66 per cent, include hitting savings targets, increasing the number of bus users and a “good reduction” in the number of people killed on the roads.

The figures were presented to today’s meeting of the council’s cabinet.