Local MP Stephen Morgan vowed today to “uncover the truth” about Portsmouth’s crumbling school buildings after lambasting the Conservatives this week for voting to block the release of key data showing the location and severity of classrooms in disrepair.
Stephen Morgan accused the Conservatives of “keeping parents in the dark” following Labour’s attempt to force the publication of information about the true state of England’s 24,000 school buildings almost two years after the School Buildings Condition Survey revealed “alarming” problems within the school estate.
Conservative MPs voted against Labour’s motion to uncover this data, meaning it was rejected.
The news comes as official data from the Department of Education showed that there are 16 schools in Portsmouth with buildings in “poor” or “bad” condition, meaning that they require urgent repair.
Labour has said that local families have not been told the scale of disrepair or when the buildings would be fixed.
An internal government report leaked to the Observer newspaper in May 2022 revealed that school buildings in England are now in such disrepair they posed a “risk to life”.
The Department for Education subsequently raised the risk of school buildings collapsing from “critical” to “critical – very likely” in its annual report in December 2022, after an increase in serious structural issues being reported.
Despite assurances given to Labour in Parliament that further data detailing the precise condition of individual buildings would be published by the end of 2022, the Schools Minister backtracked refusing to give a date for publication when questioned in the House of Commons earlier this year.
The Conservatives have failed to get to grips with the crumbling state of school building since then Education Secretary Michael Gove gave a public apology for cancelling Labour’s Building Schools for the Future Programme.
The Member of Parliament for Portsmouth South and Shadow Schools Minister, Stephen Morgan, said:
“For two years Conservative Ministers have pulled the wool over parents’ eyes instead of telling them the truth about the real state of their children’s school buildings.
“Years of Conservative neglect of the school estate means that children in Portsmouth could face disruption to learning as well as direct threats to their safety.
“The Conservatives had a choice this week: show they’re on the side of parents, or a government that wants to keep families in the dark about the safety of school buildings.
“I will continue to fight to uncover the truth about our local school buildings so that parents can be reassured that their children can learn in safety.
Mr Morgan will continue to lobby the government to improve school standards in Portsmouth and across the country.
