A 'vital' multimillion-pound works programme is set to get underway at primary schools in need of repairs across Bolton.
This comes after a report identified six of the borough’s primary schools as needing work done to their roofs, electrical systems, and structures at a total cost of £3,900,000.
Bolton Council has now approved the scheme with funding to come from the Department of Education, with education chiefs saying that they are looking forward to seeing its effects on children’s learning and day-to-day schooling experience.
Oxford Grove will be one of the schools included in the programme
Cabinet member for children’s services Cllr Anne Galloway said: “I am pleased that we are investing vital capital funding from the Department of Education into the fabric of our schools.
“The Council has been commissioning school condition reports across the borough so we can prioritise which schemes to go ahead with each year.”
Roof repairs worth £1.1million will be carried out on Oxford Grove Primary School, while similar repairs worth £650,000 will take place at Hardy Mill Primary School, with £550,000’s worth at Gaskell Primary School and another £550,000 worth at The Orchards Federation Lower site.
Repairs will be carried out on Hardy Mill Primary School
Egerton Primary School will see electrical repairs worth £350,000 carried out, while St James Daisy Hill School see a roofing and structural scheme worth £700,000 take place.
The schools were named in a report from the Schools Building Maintenance Capital Programme, which allocated funding from the Department of Education to make sure schools around the country are kept in good condition.
The decision comes at a time when schools in Bolton are facing significant pressure with soaring popularity seeing many of them, including 20 primaries, now oversubscribed.
Gaskell Community Primary will be part of the repairs programme
A controversial plan to build a new school on Haslam Park was dropped following months of campaigning by residents and environmental groups, but Bolton Council has said it hopes to meet demand for place by expanding other schools in the borough.
The primary school refurbishment programme aims to ensure that the primaries in question can continue delivering for existing pupils now and into the future.
Work will now begin subject to funding being provided by the Department of Education.
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