Wakefield school builders paid £430,000 for no work

The school has had many problems with its roof, despite only being built in 2010

A building contractor hired to fix a leaking school roof has been paid £430,000 over the past six months, despite no work being carried out.

Wakefield Council hired McConnell to work at Sandal Magna Community Academy in November 2019.

It completed half the repairs, but when rot was found the building became unsafe to use and work was stopped.

McConnell has since been paid £17,500 a week due to a clause in its contract. It has been approached for comment.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS), pupils at Sandal Magna, on Belle Vue Road, have been taught in temporary classrooms since September, when Covid restrictions have allowed them to attend.

Some year groups have also been taught in a council office building on nearby Barnsley Road due to a lack of available space.

The school has had repeated problems with its roof, despite it only being built in 2010.

Since October, McConnell, which is based in Scotland but works across the UK, has claimed £430,000 through the clause.

• More stories from around Yorkshire

A Wakefield Council report, which will go before senior councillors next week, said a decision on whether to put more cash into the roof repairs or abandon the contract completely needed to be made urgently.

It said: "After completing 50% of the roofing project, in August 2020 the contractor moved to the main teaching block and uncovered more extensive timber decay issues.

"Removal of the roof revealed further significant structural concerns which required a wide range of invasive investigations during the winter of 2020.

"The contractor was unable to undertake any further work until the full extent of the work was assessed and an agreed action plan was in place.

"As is common, the contract has a clause for costs incurred by the contractor if the council suspends work for any reason."

The council has now been asked to commit a further £1.7m to the repair scheme, which would take the total bill for the job over £3m.