Wakefield Council and contractor in further dispute after decade-long saga over leaky roof at Sandal Magna Community Academy

It emerged yesterday that the work at Sandal Magna Academy is finally near completion but a contractor is now making a claim for costs which the local authority is “refuting”.

Roof leaks have repeatedly forced pupils out of the classroom, despite the school only being built in 2010.

Attempts to fix it have been constantly hit by setbacks.

An independent inquiry carried out last year found multiple failings across a 15-year period.In April this year, architects were ordered to pay the Council £1.3m in damages.An adjudicator found that the architects that designed the Belle Vue Road building were largely responsible for the issues.

Details of further problems were revealed at a full council meeting yesterday (September 29) when Coun Tony Hames, deputy leader of the Conservative Group, submitted a written question to the Labour-run council.

Coun Hames asked if it could be confirmed that the final cost of the build was £10.4m, an overspend of £7m, plus a further £274,000 for the inquiry and legal costs.

In response, Margaret Isherwood, portfolio holder for children and young people, said: “The contractor is making a further claim, under an extension of time, for materials which the council is refuting.

“Until this process is concluded that question cannot be answered.

“However, I understand that on completion, a report will be going to the Audit and Governance Committee.

“I am informed that all the testing and inspection and new structural items, including the roof, have been completed, and they have passed all necessary requirements.

“E-mails and correspondence have been provided to confirm this from the main and sub-contractors.”

Kevin Fisher, Wakefield Council’s service director for property facilities, told an Audit and Governance Committee meeting on Monday that the main work at the school had finished, with some “snagging work” remaining.

Mr Fisher said: “We have been in constant communication with the senior leaders from the Trust and the school and they are happy with the work completed, allowing them to get in to do school work and not having to worry about day-to-day issues regarding roof leaks.”

The officer said “some anomalies” had been identified by the contractor and a claim has been made against the local authority.

Mr Fisher added: “Obviously, we can’t go into detail about that as it may go to arbitration over those claims.”

Following last year’s inquiry, Wakefield Council admitted to making mistakes over its handling of the school roof, which disrupted lessons for pupils for more than a decade.

The inquiry found that the council was slow to carry out extensive surveys of the building, which would have revealed further damage sooner, and it could have taken a more “active role” in scrutinising its contractors.