Schools across Cheshire East to receive Govt repairs funding

Schools across Cheshire East and Cheshire West and Chester are to receive Government cash to carry out repairs and upgrades, writes Mark Smith.

The condition improvement funding will see a £456 million pot of cash earmarked for 1,000 projects up and down the country.

These range from roof repairs and asbestos removal, electrical upgrades, heating improvements and urgent fire safety compliance projects.

In Cheshire East, the schools picked for improvements Wistaston Church Lane Primary and Leighton Academy.

Others include:
Sandbach High School and Sixth Form College
Holmes Chapel Comprehensive School
Sandbach School
St Alban’s Catholic Primary School, A Voluntary Academy
Daven Primary School
Bexton Primary School
Haslington Primary Academy
Middlewich High School

And in Cheshire West, the chosen schools are:
The Bishops’ Blue Coat Church of England High School
Tarporley High School and Sixth Form College
The Oak View Academy
Queen’s Park High School
Barnton Community Nursery and Primary School
Comberbach Nursery and Primary School
Tarvin Primary School
Belgrave Primary School
Leftwich Community Primary School

There have been 158 successful condition improvement fund applications in the North West, which has received £58.5 million funding in total.

Baroness Diana Barran, Minister for the School System, said: “Our condition improvement fund has already completed more than 11,000 projects, making a difference to pupils and teachers across the country.

“These projects help to create safer learning environments that make a difference to the quality of education for pupils.

“It’s hugely important that every school has access to high-quality learning facilities and these funding allocations will make sure that responsible bodies can start to plan ahead and get projects started to replace roofs, boilers and windows – so pupils and teachers can learn.”

But Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, warned the money was not enough.

He said: “This is money allocated through an annual bidding programme to address significant needs in terms of the condition of school and college buildings and is most certainly not an example of government largesse.

“It is the bare minimum and nowhere near enough to meet the cost of remedial work to repair or replace all defective elements in the school estate in England – which at the last count stood at £11.4bn.”