Classrooms and school buildings across Kirklees are set for a multi-million pound facelift if a bid to the Government is successful.

Pending approval of the bid, up to 20 schools in the district - as yet to be named - will be in line to receive cash to carry out repairs, refurbishment and improvements to their buildings during a rolling programme over the next 25 years.

Part of the Government's Private Finance Initiative, the scheme will see partnership with the private sector and the Government and will release up to £30 million pounds for vital maintenance work.

Council leader Councillor Sir John Harman said: "The Council has only been able to invest a fraction of such amounts in its school buildings in recent years. What we're talking about under the PFI strategy is huge investment, stretching the imagination of people who have worked in this field; levels of investment that have not been available for decades."

Spen Valley High School head teacher John Cotterill has welcomed the partnership, saying that in spite of spending £4 million on repair work at the school in 1993, vital improvements and maintenance work was still needed.

Mr Cotterill said: "Unfortunately, some of the buildings at Spen Valley are well below par and we see it as vital that facilities are upgraded and brought into line. The dining hall is particularly in need of being upgraded. It hasn't been changed since the school was built in the fifties and it needs a complete overhaul which would cost over £200,000 alone. We want to bring all our buildings in line with a standard anyone would expect from a normal working place."

Final details of the scheme will be discussed with Government officials over the coming weeks. An announcement will be made next month on whether the bid has been successful.

Coun Harman added: "This is about the fabric of buildings and investment in equipment. It is about attracting additional investment in badly needed repairs and improvements and providing a sound platform from which the Council will provide the education service.

"If this first scheme is successful, it is planned to be repeated in future years so that many more schools across the borough can see investment in them for which many have been pressing for a number of years."

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