A backlog of priority school maintenance work tops £50m in Kirklees.

And Kirklees Cabinet has just committed a further £5.1m to tackle the projects this year.

But they’ve had to reduce the amount after a reduction in government capital allocations.

Clr Peter O’Neill, Cabinet member for education, said: “In July the council agreed to £5.5m for maintenance works but in January we were notified by the Department for Education of a revised allocation.

“It is considerably less than we expected which is disappointing when there is a backlog of £50m of condition works, so priorities have to be made.”

The council report says a matrix scoring system to identify urgent need has been used.

The report adds: “Failure to undertake the works could lead to significant damage to buildings, equipment and belongings e.g. significant water ingress through a failed roof or the partial or full closure of a school e.g. a boiler or heating system failure during the winter months could close a school due to temperatures falling below minimum requirements.”

Details of what work is required and where remains confidential while the tenders are carried out, but overall the priority works over the next five years total £50m.

Roof replacements, re-wiring of whole schools, replacement of boilers and heating systems and urgent structural works and kitchen refurbishments feature among work to be done.

Meanwhile, repairs and refurbishment of around £4m will be spent on Kirklees Council’s buildings in the next year.

The council owns offices, library and information centres, children’s centres, town halls, public halls and museums, which could be in line for work.

Yesterday Cabinet members approved details during a private session.

Kirklees says it will involve “refurbishment, remodelling and redecoration”.

It also includes energy efficient measures to reduce the council’s energy bills.

Last year the Cabinet agreed to a £25m sell off unused buildings, which form part of the plans approved yesterday.

Click here to take you back to more Huddersfield news.

To follow us on Twitter click here