Matt Nixson reports on the efforts being made to improve deteriorating schools in Sussex, following the news that £130 million is needed to fix crumbling buildings.

CONCRETE cancer was blamed for bringing one school down around the ears of pupils and staff.

Built in the Fifties, Westergate Community School was at the end of its working life by August 1999.

A shanty town of demountable classrooms surrounded crumbling buildings ill-suited to modern education.

Brenda Elwin, senior administrator at the school, recalled: "It was very demoralising. The school was crumbling."

Students are now enjoying new facilities, the last of which were opened in January 2000 after the school was rebuilt.

They are the lucky ones.

Unfortunately, the pre-August 1999 situation at Westergate School, in Westergate, near Chichester, was far from unique.

Figures showed £131 million was needed across Sussex just to bring crumbling school buildings up to scratch.

The amount, revealed in an answer to a parliamentary question tabled by the Liberal Democrats, was the bill for restoring buildings to a "serviceable state".

It did not include modernisation or extension of existing buildings.

East Sussex County Council faces a bill of £5.9 million for urgent repairs, £16 million to be spent within two years and a further £11.3 million within five years.

Schools in Brighton and Hove need no urgent work but repairs estimated to cost £11.7 million must be carried out within two years and a further £10.1 million within five years.

West Sussex County Council has the largest bill in the county. Of repairs costing £76.4 million, £4.2 million are considered urgent.

West Sussex has 306 schools with an education budget of £380 million and potentially hundreds of pupils are affected by poor buildings.

The Conservative-run county council, however, was currently spending just 2.48 per cent of its education budget on repairs.

Councillor Nick Rodgers, Liberal Democrat group leader, said: "Trying to learn in a crumbling school is not the best way forward. Over the past five years we sold assets worth £60 million but money has not gone on improvements to remaining stock.

"School repairs - and there is a lot of work needed - are only the tip of the iceberg."

He believed the county council was sacrificing improvements to schools for low council tax.

He said: "West Sussex is a prosperous area and one that should be able to invest in schools.

"But it prides itself on low tax and not investment in its infrastructure. This affects schools, roads and bus services."

A county council spokesman said: "As a local education authority, school building improvements will remain a high priority for the council."

The situation in East Sussex is remarkably similar, with 2.61 per cent of the education budget going on school repairs.

Councillor Daphne Bagshawe, deputy council leader, admitted some schools had suffered poor Ofsted reports because of problems with buildings.

She said: "We are determined to focus on the issue of repairs. We will be looking at those schools where poor buildings are seen to be contributing to low standards."

The county council was spending an extra £11.6 million on its 192 schools in the next financial year, Mrs Bagshawe added.

Councillor David Rogers, Liberal Democrat group leader, said the issue of funding was not party political but one between local and central government.

He said: "Most of the money for school repairs comes from central government. Whether that's the last Conservative government or the present Labour government, neither has invested enough."

Education Minister John Healey defended the Government's record on funding. He said £5.5 billion had been spent on repairs in England and Wales during the past two years. A further £6.3 billion would be spent by 2004, he added.

One of the ways in which local education authorities are funding repairs is through the Government's New Deal for Schools.

East Sussex County Council received more than £900,000 through the scheme in the current financial year. Funding is allocated via a formula, based partly on pupil numbers.

During the next two years East Sussex is set to get another £9.5 million towards improvements.

One school, already reaping the benefits of the new deal funding, is Denton Community School in Acacia Road, Newhaven.

Head teacher Diane Scott said: "The learning environment for the children and staff is already hugely improved."

The city spent 3.17 per cent of its education budget on repairs this financial year.

Councillor Frieda Warman-Brown, Brighton and Hove City Council's executive councillor for education, said: "We have an ongoing asset management plan that involves officers visiting schools and looking at their state."