Funds plea over flood-hit schools

In Hull alone the repair bill may top £60 million and could be as high as £100 million. Only five out of 95 schools in Hull were unaffected by the recent flooding.

Last week, Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced a £14 million package of help for regions devastated by the flooding. However, the Department for Children, Schools and Families, this week has so far declined to say how much new money, if any, will be spent on flood repairs to schools.

The councillor with responsibility for education on Hull City Council, Michael Ross, said primary schools were particularly badly hit as they were generally ground-floor buildings.

Liberal Democrat Mr Ross, cabinet member for Lifelong Learning, said: "We believe we need funding for schools in the region of £60 million to £100 million. We clearly don't have the resources for that. We believe we need help and discussions are still continuing. If we don't get sufficient funds from Government we will have to use large amounts of our own funds."

Mr Ross said he believed the £14 million already earmarked would primarily be used to support homeowners. "The amount for public buildings is quite minimal," he added.

He said Hull had already been earmarked cash from the Government's Building Schools for the Future (BSF) and Every Child Matters programmes.

Under the BSF scheme, Hull had been promised £220 million to build new schools. However, he said there were still problems accessing that cash for current projects and the recent flooding had simply "exacerbated" the situation.

The councillor said he hoped the BSF money could be "fast-tracked" and combined with any new funding. He added: "The sheer scale of this really reiterates the need for more funding from Government. Hull is slightly different. It was completely city wide (the flooding) with only five unaffected schools across the entire city."

He said he was "confident" the Government would come up with the cash and Hull would "get the help it deserves".