All the Lancaster and Morecambe schools due for major repairs in 2025/2026

Roof replacements, new heating systems and the removal of asbestos are amongst the 61 highest-priority repair jobs set to be carried out over the next year – four of which are in Lancaster and three in Morecambe.

Lancashire County Council’s cabinet has agreed how the authority will spend the cash that it expects to receive in 2025/26 from the government’s schools condition-led programme to address the most pressing issues across the school estate.

However, a report to members stressed that the funding will not be enough to tackle all of the top-priority problems in the county – only those deemed most severe.

The decision about which schools to prioritise is based on Department for Education guidance which helps local authorities to identify so-called “priority 1” repairs. But the amount expected to be allocated to Lancashire would not cover all of the schools that fall into this category, meaning a further prioritisation has had to be carried out in order to determine what cabinet member for education and skills Jayne Rear said is those sites with “the greatest need”.

A contingency fund has also been created to cover any increased costs that may become apparent only once work gets under way and more of the building fabric is exposed.

The authority has warned that restricted material and labour availability in recent years – which has bumped up prices in the building industry – could put further financial pressure on the programme.

The funding – which will be confirmed in the coming weeks – is for community, voluntary controlled and maintained schools, but not academies, which receive an allocation from a separate pot. If the total amount issued to Lancashire is less than the £14m anticipated, the work programme will have to be adjusted accordingly.

WHAT’S BEING DONE WHERE

These are the schools in the Lancaster district that are provisionally listed for repair during 2025/26:

***Appletree Nursery, Lancaster – roof replacement

***Bowerham Primary School, Lancaster – asbestos removal

***Caton Primary School, Lancaster – electrical rewire

***Torrisholme Primary School, Morecambe – asbestos removal

***West End Primary School, Morecambe – roof replacement

***Westgate Primary School, Morecambe – roof replacement

***Willow Lane Primary School, Lancaster – roof replacement

Source: Lancashire County Council