Huge gulf in cost of repairs needed at Calderdale schools and funding available councillors told

That is what scrutiny councillors were told at a recent meeting where it was revealed the borough’s local authority-controlled schools need at least £23.3 million worth of work carried out on them within that timescale.

But in 2023, Calderdale Council only received £1.8 million in school condition allocation grant from central Government, they were told.

Construction inflation plus associated costs for surveys and asbestos removal prior to any works could see this figure eventually exceed £34m – and the figures do not include longer term priorities, councillors heard.

But they also heard the Government has agreed more than £100 million for some Calderdale schools from the school rebuilding programme, following successful bids for specific premises.

School organisation and access manager Richard Morse’s report said: “Available funding clearly does not enable all of these issues to be addressed within the recommended timescales and so an approach has been adopted whereby urgent and essential health and safety related works are given priority.

“Some of these are identified through the asset management plan reports, others present themselves as issues arise and we need to respond.”

Assessment of work places it in one of three categories – “urgent”, to prevent immediate closure of a building, “essential”, required within two years, and “desirable”, needed within three to five years.

Government help is coming through some successful bids to the school rebuilding programme for 11 of the borough’s schools.

These refurbishments are estimated to amount to more than £100 million in investment, Children and Young People’s Scrutiny Board councillors were told.

Responding to Coun Dot Foster (Lab, Sowerby Bridge) on whether the school rebuild money would be enough, Mr Morse said it would not be cost-free for the council but at the end of the programme, the schools will be rebuilt to modern standards with eco-features and standard-sized classrooms.

“They will have all the ‘bells and whistles’ and will be fit for the 21st century,” he said.