Council spent more than £50k on empty school

The former Langley High School site has been vacant since it was handed back to the council by Oldbury Academy in February last year after it moved to a £20 million new home in Pound Road.

Now the plan is for the empty Moat Road site to become the home of a new secondary school, with the council set to pay half of the anticipated £2 million start-up costs.

It has the space for 1,200 pupils.

The spending on the empty school site was revealed after a request under the Freedom of Information Act.

It has emerged Sandwell Council, which must save £120 million by 2016, has spent £35,481 on security and £8,497 on utilities since the school was vacated.

The council also spent a further £7,352 made up of £5,110 on grounds maintenance, another £1,276 on a security system upgrade and maintenance.

A further £996 was paid on general maintenance and repair.

The authority has previously said it was maintaining the site and keeping it secure so it could be brought back into use within a six-month time period.

In a council report, Councillor Simon Hackett, the borough's children's services chief, said: "The old school site at Langley is one of those earmarked for redevelopment and the council is looking for the right educational partners to work with. It is an excellent site near to the centre of the borough which can be made ready for use in a short period of time.

Deputy Leader Councillor Steve Eling said today: "We are having to provide basic maintenance and security at the site while we wait for government approval of the sponsor to operate the new school that will open there.

"The sooner we get a decision from the government the better for all concerned."

The latest proposals come after plans to relocate Stuart Bathurst Catholic Primary School 10 miles from Wood Green Road, Wednesbury, to use the site in Moat Road, Oldbury, were dropped.

Instead council chiefs want to set up an entirely new school and, in line with latest Government policy, the desired occupiers would be a free school or an academy.

The authority began the search last year for partners interested in developing the new school which would cater for pupils aged between 11 and 18.

The birth rate has shot up by 26 per cent in the past seven years in the borough, meaning the council needs to provide an extra 27 forms of entry in secondary schools in the next decade.

The council has pumped funding into primary schools but now needs to address the knock-on impact on secondary schools from 2016 onwards.