Council plans to put aside £1.1m for schools repairs after surveyors found faults across Northampton

Doors hanging off and up to 20 percent of lights failing in some classrooms are amongst major failures that are disrupting children’s education in some Northampton schools, a council has said.

West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) is set to put £1.1 millions aside for works after teachers complained and surveyors found faults.

Three affected schools are named in a council report. Problems include sash windows in one block, which have failed. They are being secured with loose wooden blocks that restrict the windows from opening fully.

At another school, up to a fifth of lights in some classrooms do not work, which has led to “children having difficulty reading presentations at the front of the class”. In some cases, the lighting levels are failing to meet regulations.

And at another, taps and doors to sink units in classrooms have failed with children unable to use the broken taps. Other doors there are hanging off.

Most work done in schools in West Northamptonshire is carried out by Northamptonshire Schools Limited (NSL) after the now-defunct Northamptonshire County Council (NCC) signed an £800 million contract with the firm in December 2005. The contract largely remains in place but in 2018 NCC decided to cut its payment to the company by £2 million a year.

The responsibility – and the cost – for new lighting, window and door replacement and floor finishes then fell onto NCC, and subsequently, WNC. WNC said it must now use £1.1 million to replace the broken items across a variety of schools.

Officers warn that doing nothing could lead to unsafe schools, legal action, “unlimited fines”, civil claims against the council and reputational damage. They have said the authority can add items back into its contract with NSL but only if they are in “good condition”, typically by replacing them.

WNC’s cabinet will be asked to sign off the budget to fix the problems at a meeting on Tuesday, January 17.