Woking MP raises local crumbling classrooms at PMQs

Will Forster, Liberal Democrat MP for Woking, has called for urgent government support for Woking High School and asked Sir Keir Starmer during Prime Minister’s Questions to visit the school to inspect the crumbling classrooms himself.

Mr Forster, who previously attended Woking High School, recently visited the school met with staff, students and the school council before being shown around several of the site’s ageing buildings.

Many of the classrooms, built in the 1960s, remain in use today despite significant deterioration. School leaders explained that the school has repeatedly been unsuccessful in securing funding through the government’s Condition Improvement Fund (CIF), leaving them without the resources needed to repair or replace the buildings.

The school’s operational team also showed Mr Forster damaged classrooms where temporary fixes are being used to keep facilities operational. Staff said the buildings become extremely hot in summer and freezing in winter, with some wall panels deteriorating to the point where holes expose the outside elements, contributing to damp and mould. The visit also included a condemned building taken out of use last year after the roof partially collapsed and the floor began to rot.

Raising the issue in the House of Commons at Prime Minister’s questions, Mr Forster said:

“Last month I visited my old secondary school; Woking High. I saw classrooms built in the 1960s — they were only meant to last 20 years, yet they are still in use and being held together by gaffa tape.

I walked into my old music classroom; it had a huge hole in the roof and I nearly fell through the rotting floor. It was condemned last year, but I can still remember the stench of mould.

Mr Speaker, will the Prime Minister agree to come to Woking High School with me to see how bad it is, and ensure that my old school urgently gets the funding it needs so my young constituents can learn in a school fit for the 21st century?”

Prime Minister’s response:

The Prime Minister declined the invitation to come to Woking, however did assure that Mr Forster can have a meeting with the Minister for Education about Woking High School’s crumbling classrooms in the near future. 

Following the visit last month, Mr Forster said he would continue to press the government to secure funding so that pupils in Woking can learn in safe, modern facilities.