Schools in Leeds are at “breaking point” and could face closure because the government has ignored their pleas for money, the education secretary has been warned.
In a letter to Damian Hinds, Leeds Council’s executive member for learning, Jonathan Pryor, said schools in the district were in a “desperate situation” and because of the state of their buildings.
He said the city had a £100m backlog of repairs as well as three high schools that need rebuilding. But it had been hit by the end of the ‘Building Schools for the Future’ programme in 2010 and the fact that his authority received around £260m a year less from the government than it did nine years ago.
“Population increases in Leeds also mean a significant number of new high school places are needed and new high schools built,” the Labour councillor writes in the letter which was also copied to shadow education secretary Angela Rayner. “Leeds schools are at breaking point.”
He says he had asked Mr Hinds for an urgent meeting in September to discuss the problems but says he had received “no reply or acknowledgement” and so was now going public.
“If the points in this letter continue to be ignored by the government, we may find ourselves in a position where schools in Leeds could face closure, or a move to temporary modular accommodation, on health and safety grounds,” it continues
“The young people of Leeds deserve schools that are not falling down.”
Labour has waged a long-standing campaign against the squeeze on education spending under the current government.
Late last year the party released calculations estimating spending on schools will have been cut by £1.7 billion between 2014-15 and 2019-20.
Ms Rayner has accused Mr Hinds of forcing schools to “beg for donations” and criticised him for cutting support for pupils with special educational needs.
Education bodies have railed against per-pupil funding cuts and union data shared with Tes has revealed some schools are holding back on a national teacher pay rise.
Mr Hinds has argued overall school funding is at record levels and attainment has increased under the Conservative government.
The Department for Education has been contacted for comment.
