Council property a mess

7.29.40pm BST (GMT +0100) Mon 12th Oct 2009

In a report to the County Council it has been revealed that only a quarter of all County Council properties are fit for purpose. A third are not fit for purpose, and highlighted in the report as a red, using the green, amber, red warning rankings.

For schools the position is worse, with only 1% of schools rated green and 42% as red.

The ratings are based on five factors: condition, suitability,capacity, utilisation and environmental impact - the last having actually worsened in schools in the last year.

Cllr Malcolm Cowan, Liberal Democrat Opposition Spokesperson on Performance and Resources, said: 'It is clear that a lot of work needs to be done to bring buildings up to scratch, and the pace of work must get faster. Only one school in the whole of Herts got a grant to expand last year, yet dozens still have to use 'temporary' buildings such as mobile classrooms, which turn out to be permanent features. The complacency of the Tory ruling group is a real problem'.

'At the same time, Gordon Brown's credit crunch has meant a major slump in sales of redundant sites, the traditional route for the county council to finance refurbishment and new buildings. We need an action plan to get improvements coming forward at a much faster rate.