Schools across North Yorkshire will benefit from improved facilities through a multi-million pound investment although the Government has been warned that more funding is needed to bring all buildings and facilities up to standard.
The Department for Education has awarded North Yorkshire Council £7.03 million from its School Condition Allocation (SCA) grant to deliver a modern learning environment fit for the 21st century.
However, the Government has been told that the funding is “nowhere near enough” with schools already facing a maintenance backlog of more than £20 million and the council has estimated that a further £62.3 million will be needed to address the condition of classrooms within five years.
The latest funding allocation will be used to address essential improvements including roofing, heating and window replacements as well as the buildings’ walls across nurseries, family centres and primary and secondary schools in the county.
Members of North Yorkshire Council’s executive will consider the funding, which is an increase from last year’s allocation of £5.883 million.
Along with providing the best possible learning environments, the money will be used to enhance the school buildings’ energy efficiency, reducing their carbon footprint and energy bills.
North Yorkshire Council’s executive member for education, learning and skills, Cllr Annabel Wilkinson, said: “We are committed to ensuring schools are upgraded to provide North Yorkshire pupils with the best facilities to allow them to learn in modern, safe, warm and well-equipped buildings.
“While I welcome this investment from the Government and am pleased to see schools in North Yorkshire will benefit from this crucial support, the funding is nowhere near enough for what we actually require.
“There is no better investment in our children’s future than ensuring they get a good education and to give some idea of the scale of the challenge, the investment required along with backlog maintenance alone is estimated to be approximately £63 million.”
As of April this year, there are 182 maintained schools in North Yorkshire including three nurseries, 158 primary, 12 secondary, five special schools and four pupil referral units. This represents more than 50 per cent of all 354 schools in the county, with the other sites overseen by academy trusts.
The council’s assistant director for inclusion, Amanda Fielding, said: “It is vital that we continue to invest in schools and educational establishments in the county and we will continue to lobby the Government for more money towards school maintenance and improvements.
“By improving the fabric of our school buildings and installing energy efficiency measures, we are also keeping classrooms warm and over time it should reduce energy bills for our schools too.”
