School's fears over mouldy and 'unsafe' classrooms

Officials at a school in Hinckley have claimed they were denied funding to deal with leaky and mouldy classrooms.

Battling Brook Primary School said it can no longer use two of its teaching rooms because they are "unsafe".

The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) said the school had applied for government funding to replace the affected mobile classrooms but had its bid rejected for reasons "outside of its control".

The Department for Education (DfE) has urged the school to apply for a grant from its Urgent Capital Support fund.

The school said the mobile units, which are more than 10-years-old, have rotten flooring, leaking ceilings and mould on the walls.

The LDRS said the rejection of the school's bid for funds followed a recent government announcement that 22 other local education settings would receive a share of a £45.2m pot to carry out "urgent" safety and safeguarding works.

The school told the LDRS the unusable classrooms were having wider impacts on its pupils.

A school spokesperson said the issue has resulted in a "reduction in space for intervention groups including nurture sessions, small group work, breakfast club provision and music lessons".

The spokesperson said the issues were impacting the "integrity of the whole block" and concerns over "water ingress" have meant the electricity has had to be "turned off".

In winter this means heating cannot be run in them so "the areas of the school which border these classrooms are extremely cold".

The school believes missing information in a report commissioned by the school, and for the government, meant it scored below the threshold needed for the funding to be offered.

It added the report was completed too close to the government's deadline for them to request it be changed.

It is appealing the refusal of its funding bid, with the government saying it can expect an outcome in August.

A DfE spokesperson said it was providing long-term maintenance funding nationally through to 2034-35, rising to almost £3bn per year to improve the condition of schools and colleges.

It said nearly £20bn was available through its School Rebuilding Programme.

The DfT spokesperson said unsuccessful applicants should also consider applying for the government's Urgent Capital Support funding.

Bosworth MP Dr Luke Evans has asked early education minister Stephen Morgan to meet him to discuss the matter and try to get funding to solve the issues before the new school year starts in September.

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