Temporary Classrooms (Hansard, 23 June 1998)

§ Mr. David Heath (Somerton and Frome)

I beg to move, That leave be given to bring in a Bill to reduce the reliance on temporary classroom accommodation in local authority and grant maintained schools; to place a duty upon the Secretary of State to report to Parliament on the number of temporary classrooms in current use; to require the Secretary of State to lay before Parliament plans for the replacement of such accommodation, other than that necessary for normal fluctuation in pupil numbers, with permanent school buildings; and for connected purposes.

Members of Parliament are privileged to work in reasonable and, one supposes, permanent surroundings. We occasionally complain that our offices are too small—I certainly do—but generally the roof does not leak, the windows fit, and rot is the province of speakers rather than the woodwork. Many hundreds of thousands of schoolchildren do not share that privilege. They are taught in what are euphemistically called "temporary classrooms". Some are perfectly satisfactory, but many are up to 40 years old. So-called huts predominate in many schools. It is a major preoccupation for teachers, parents, governors and for local education authorities, who are only too aware that what they are providing for schools in their area are not up to the standards that they desire.

Some people would have it that the matter is of little consequence—that one need not worry about the surroundings in which children are taught. I disagree. The teaching environment is important to learning. I accept that it is not the only factor and that a good, committed teacher teaching in a field is a better than a bad teacher teaching in a great hall of academe. The fact remains that if one can put together good, committed teaching, a good curriculum and the right surroundings, one is doing the best for the children rather than the second best, as is so often the case.

A proper classroom—one designed for the purpose—enhances rather than detracts from the educational experience. I want children to concentrate on the curriculum rather than on the construction of substandard buildings.

Temporary classrooms, particularly old ones, tend to leak because they have flat roofs that are often insubstantial. They tend to have window frames that do not quite fit, which causes draughts and further leaks. That, in turn, sometimes causes condensation. They are horribly hot in the summer sun and horribly cold in the winter, and they are difficult to heat.

Temporary classrooms also impose artificial constraints on circulation within the school. It is part of the proper school environment that children should be able to pass from classroom to classroom, and circulate around the school, yet children who have the misfortune of being in a distant hut have to put on their overcoats and pick up their bags before they can go to the next lesson. That is a further constraint on the quality of their education. It is also difficult to ensure security in such buildings.

Another good reason why we should not be over-reliant on temporary classrooms is that they cost a packet to run. They are cheap to buy and install, which is the main reason why we have so many them, but they cost more in heating and maintenance and to repair. They are more prone to vandalism: a wooden hut is often a challenge to 840 adolescent males, who like to see how quickly they can apply their destructive capacity during their school years. As a result, resources are diverted from teaching, books and equipment into keeping those huts in working order. They are economic nonsense for education authorities and for school governing bodies.

How widespread is the problem? The Secretary of State, in his contribution to a debate on the Budget resolutions last year, estimated that there are 25,000 across the country. On a local level, there are 709 temporary classrooms in daily use in Somerset. Last year, I was chairman of education on Somerset county council. At some schools, temporary classrooms represent more than 50 per cent. of the teaching accommodation. There are 390 in primary schools: one in every five classrooms in which a primary school child in Somerset is being taught is a so-called temporary classroom. By 2000, three quarters of those classrooms will have passed their design life—their sell-by date—and will have exceeded the life for which they were designed.

Let us remind ourselves of just how old some of these temporary classrooms are. The oldest are the HORSAs, which were built during the war. They had a design life of 10 years, yet they are still here 50 years on. They are not the worst of the building stock by any means. Some wooden buildings built much later are in a much poorer state of repair.

How can we call these temporary classrooms? They are not temporary: some of them now house the grandchildren of the children for whom they were built as temporary classrooms. It is nonsense. The position is the same around the country: Somerset is not a special case. Many hon. Members have similar tales to tell. My hon. Friend the Member for Torbay (Mr. Sanders) has told me of the Westlands school in his constituency, which has no fewer than 38 temporary classrooms in its building stock. I heard a similar story from my hon. Friend the Member for Colchester (Mr. Russell), who said that half the classrooms in St. Andrew's infants school are so-called temporary buildings.

How have we got ourselves into this mess? The primary reason is the old British story of short-termism and expediency. Such an approach predates the previous Government and the Government before that: the problem has existed for a long time. It always seemed better to spend a little now to provide a temporary classroom rather than to spend more on permanent classrooms. We have had a litany of capital controls, squeezes on local education authority finances and competing policy pressures—the Audit Commission, when I was on it, called it a policy gridlock that afflicts schools. The answers do not seem to work. The private finance initiative may eventually be able to deliver major school developments, but will it turn temporary classrooms into permanent classrooms? I suspect not. The problem may be exacerbated further by the move that the Government are rightly undertaking to reduce class sizes to under 30.

I acknowledge that the Government have recognised the problem. The Secretary of State has talked of the legacy of disrepair. The White Paper "Excellence in Schools" concentrates on that problem and on the Government's acceptance that it needs to be addressed. I simply suggest that the proposals are not yet consonant with the need—which is why my Bill is important. 841 My Bill would place clear duties on the Secretary of State not only to recognise the width of the problem but to come up with proper answers to it, in conjunction with local education authorities, so that we have a planned response in removing temporary classrooms from our schools and replacing them with permanent classrooms. I am fed up with so many schools looking like shanty towns rather than educational establishments.

My Bill should be welcomed because, if it finds favour with the House today, it can be repealed in five years' time. If it is passed, the Bill will have done its job in five years, as action to rectify the disastrous mismanagement of the educational estate will have been taken. The ones who will benefit from that action are the next generation of children, who will have proper accommodation for their one opportunity of learning.

I commend the Bill to the House.