Scarborough Labour Candidate Hits Out at Government Over Scalby School Funding

Labour's parliamentary candidate for Scarborough and Whitby Alison Hume says she’s shocked by the Government’s refusal last year to provide funding to rebuild Scalby School after the trust raised fears about safety.

Seventeen classrooms as well as several support rooms and dining hall facilities are currently out of action at the school as they were built with reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) which is showing signs of crumbling and cracking.

The school had started to take mitigation measures in January, putting 90 steel props in place, before the government ordered them to close days before the start of term.

Last year the school applied to the Schools Rebuilding Programme to completely rebuild the school but the application was rejected. Michael McCluskie, the head of learning at the Coast and Vale Learning Trust told the Guardian this week that

"the school was turned down in part because it could not contribute enough of its own money to the project, after having been asked to take two failing schools into the chain."

The trust says it reported the identification of RAAC on its site to the Department for Education last year through a DfE Questionnaire, but at the time there was no suggestion that the material might fail. 90 support posts were installed to shore up the structure, and the trust was planning more work this term before being told to partially close the school following the change in government advice.

In a letter to parents last week Headteacher Chris Robertson said:

"As I explained to parents earlier this year, we identified that RAAC was present on the site at Scalby and during last term we took measures in line with DFE guidance to mitigate against this. At the time the DFE were happy with this work, and we were working closely with them to resolve the issues."

Deputy CEO of the Coast and Vale Learning Trust, Michael McCluskie, said he had "received a positive indication” the school will now be rebuilt due to the extent of the RAAC usage, but has received no firm commitment.

Alison Hume, Labour’s parliamentary candidate for Scarborough and Whitby, said:

“The decisions taken by the Conservatives, including the Prime Minister, have led us to the chaos families are experiencing in Scarborough and across the country today. All this could have been avoided, but because of Conservative incompetence, two thirds of Scalby School is currently closed. Teachers are having to re-introduce virtual learning, parents are having to take annual or unpaid leave to stay at home with their children and students have been unsettled by yet more disruption to their education.

This school would have been replaced as part of Labour’s Building Schools for the Future programme which was abolished by the Conservative/Liberal Democrat coalition in 2010. Instead it currently stands empty and taped off as a reminder of Conservative mismanagement on a huge scale.

It is time for the Prime Minister and this shambolic Conservative government to take responsibility for the mess they have made and get a grip of this crisis.”

Cllr Subash Sharma, Labour Councillor for Newby, said:

“Once again the education of our children is being disrupted. We are forced to choose between their physical safety and their future life chances, and this over risks which have been known for years. This is sheer government incompetence."

More than 100 schools and colleges have been told to shut buildings, partially or completely, because of concerns about the safety of the reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) used to construct them.

The Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has denied suggestions that he is to blame for cuts to schools' repair and maintenance budgets, saying it was "completely and utterly wrong" to suggest he was to blame for failing to fully fund a programme to rebuild England's crumbling schools.

On Monday Education Secretary Gillian Keegan said her department will pay for repairs and temporary accommodation.

Ms Keegan could not say how much the DfE will ultimately have to ringfence - but admitted the concrete crisis will likely cost "many many millions".

Despite both Ms Keegan and Treasury sources suggesting the money will come from the DfE's existing budget, Mr Sunak said "extra money" will be made available.

Mr Sunak said:

"The Chancellor has been crystal clear that schools will be given extra money for these mitigations, it won't come from their existing school budgets."