Schools, hospitals and prisons among England’s crumbling public buildings
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Guardian analysis finds 1.6 million pupils in schools in need of repair, while some NHS sites endanger patients and staff. Back in September, before his government’s first budget, the prime minister, Keir Starmer, addressed the Trades Union Congress. “So much of our crumbling public realm – universities, councils, the care system – [are] all even worse than we expected,” he told the assembled delegates.
A Guardian analysis of the government estate in England – looking across the public sector at schools, hospitals, courts and prisons – suggests Starmer was correct to use the word “crumbling”. Other descriptors he could also have used are dilapidated, close to failure and, in some cases, posing a risk to life and safety.
Long-term investment in the public realm was one of the main points of October’s budget, with Rachel Reeves changing the debt rules in order to free up billions for infrastructure spending. But just how bad has the problem got?. One in six schoolchildren (almost 1.6 million) are studying in schools that either need major work done or are in a relatively poor condition.
Almost 729,000 of those pupils study in a school that either the government or responsible body (such as the local council) believes needs rebuilding or refurbishment because of safety problems or the general dilapidated condition of the buildings. A further 847,000 pupils study in a school with a high “relative condition need”, meaning a large number of defects and deterioration relative to the building’s size.
