Thousands of public buildings in urgent need of repair

A new analysis by The Guardian newspaper has found that thousands of schools, hospitals and courts need urgent repair, with some posing a risk of serious injury.

The study found that one in six schoolchildren are studying in schools that either need major work or are in a relatively poor building condition.

And an analysis of hospital board papers found hospital buildings in England are putting staff and patients at risk from “an alarming array of hazards”, including fire, flood and electrical risks. The Guardian reported that £2.7 billion of the £13.8 billion needed to repair “crumbling NHS facilities” related to works classed as posing a “high” risk to safety.

Meanwhile, the PCS public and commercial services union has urged its members to ask their MPs to sign Labour MP Kim Johnson’s early day motion calling for prison maintenance to be brought back in house. The National Audit Office estimates the maintenance backlog has doubled to £1.8 billion over the past four years.

And an RMT rail union review of infrastructure company Network Rail’s Modernising Maintenance programme found this has “damaged the working lives of railway staff and increased safety risks across the network”. Key review findings, based on testimony from more than 6,000 members, include 85% reporting an increase in infrastructure faults.