Local delegation to raise condition of Richard Lee school building with Minister

Bob Ainsworth – Member of Parliament for Coventry North East – will lead a delegation of representatives from Richard Lee Primary School and the local authority in a meeting with Lord Hill – Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Schools – to discuss the condition of Richard Lee School building and their capital funding needs.  The meeting is due to take place on Thursday 7^th July 2011 at 11am in the Department for Education. 

Those attending the meeting will include Nicola Harwood – Headteacher of Richard Lee Primary School – and Councillors Hazel Sweet, Faye Abbott and Lynnette Kelly.

The meeting will give those present the opportunity to highlight the poor state of disrepair of the school building and the need for more certainty over and an increase of future capital funding allocations from central government.

The meeting with the Minister cannot come soon enough following an incident last week that saw part of the ceiling in one of the school corridors collapse; fortunately the incident occurred overnight when no pupils were present.  However, this latest incident highlights the urgency of the situation faced by teachers and pupils at the school and only adds to the concerns of parents.  

Following the meeting with Lord Hill, the delegation plans to present a petition to 10 Downing Street.  The petition condemns the Tory-led Government’s decision to cut capital spending on schools and calls for this decision to be reversed and for Coventry City Council to be provided with the necessary funds to rebuild Richard Lee School.    

Tomorrow (22^nd June 2011), Bob will raise the plight of Richard Lee School again in Parliament.  All three Coventry MPs have a debate on the ‘Education Capital Programmes in Coventry’ at 11am in Westminster Hall.

Bob said:

“The School building remains in a dreadful state of disrepair and continues to edge ever closer to the end of its useable lifespan; as a result any remedial works that are undertaken can only ever be temporary.  The only way to permanently resolve the ongoing maintenance problems at the school is through a full rebuild.  We will ensure that this is made abundantly clear to the Minister.

“We will also ensure that he is made fully aware of the conditions in which children and teachers are being forced to work in on a daily basis and of the understandable concerns expressed by parents.”

22 June 2011