Sheffield MP urges action over dilapidated schools after parent hurt

The government must urgently address the state of school buildings after a parent suffered a head injury at a Sheffield primary, an MP has said.

Speaking in the Commons, Sheffield Hallam Labour MP Olivia Blake said a parent at Dore Primary had been injured after a piece of cladding fell on her.

Ministers should take action "before anyone else is harmed", the MP said.

Education Secretary Gillian Keegan had earlier told MPs she took the condition of schools "very seriously".

Ms Blake said the parent, Carla, was hurt as she was dropping off her children and it could easily have been a child who was seriously injured.

The MP said Carla, who did not give her surname, had told her: "My injuries are bad enough, but the fact this could so easily have been a child doesn't bear thinking about.

"I know the school is doing everything they can, but I also know they don't have the funds. It feels like this is a warning sign for the government and I really hope it isn't ignored."

Ms Blake said it was a "complete dereliction of duty" by the government.

"Conservative cuts to schools' capital spending budgets have left us in this situation.

"Ministers needs to take urgent action to address this crisis before anyone else is harmed."

In addition to raising the matter in Parliament earlier, Ms Blake said she had written to the Secretary of State for Education Gillian Keegan to ask her to contact the parent and the headteacher at the school to offer support.

In its annual report, published in December, the Department for Education said there was "a risk of collapse of one or more blocks in some schools which are at, or approaching, the end of their designed life-expectancy, and structural integrity is impaired".

Following this, additional funding was announced for school renovation schemes.

The issue was also raised in the Commons earlier by Shadow Secretary of State for Education Bridget Phillipson.

Responding to Ms Phillipson, Ms Keegan said: "We take the condition of schools very, very seriously and we will be publishing data."

She added that every time a school was identified as being at risk, it was "immediately acted upon".

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