Crewe: Anger over delay in informing councillors about school defect

Cheshire East’s children and families committee agreed in June of this year that Gainsborough Primary School could become part of the Alexandra Academy Trust.

At a meeting this week councillors were told experts had recommended removal and replacement of the flooring in an extension.

The academisation was delayed to allow councillors to approve funding for the works, which are scheduled to be carried out in the summer of 2025.

A report to this week’s committee stated: “The conversion of Gainsborough Primary has been postponed from September 1, 2024, with a potential revised conversion date of February 1, 2025.”

The report says: “The cost of the remedial work, including replacement of the heating system within the affected areas would be funded from the school condition allocation capital grant from the Department for Education to support essential maintenance on maintained local authority schools.”

It adds: “The school is still able to be used on a daily basis and any interim safety measures will be undertaken, as required.”

Cllr George Hayes (Image: Cheshire East Council) Cllr George Hayes (Congleton, Con) was critical of the council department which is responsible for school buildings.

He told the committee: “I’m concerned at how such significant concerns have only come to light now…

“The extension causing most significant concern was completed 17 years ago and that area for more recent concerns 11 years ago, so I do ask how members can be assured that similar significant concerns aren’t present within the remainder of our maintained school estate.”

He said the agenda report referred to expert reports in 2023 and 2024 and ‘I would have appreciated early signs of this issue arising to committee before we approved the initial academisation at our meeting on June 3.”

He also asked if the council had any form of recourse with the contractor who undertook the work.

Theresa Leavy, the recently appointed executive director of children’s services, said: “I agree with you, we need to have been ahead of this earlier and we needed to have presented it earlier to this committee.”

She added: "Should you wish to request a report on the state of the health and safety assessments in all of our schools given all the circumstances that we all know nationally and locally, I think that would be both sensible and maybe something this committee would like to see to be assured that we are, as a whole council, on top of those matters.”

The committee agreed to approve the capital expenditure required to carry out the remedial works at Gainsborough Primary School.

The cost of this is not known as the details were in a part two ‘private report’.