Over December and January, Lea Hough Chartered Surveyors has been working closely with Diocese clients across Lancashire and Cumbria to support schools in preparing submissions for School Condition Allocation (SCA) funding.
As Dioceses receive and distribute their SCA allocation across their schools, this period is a key opportunity to identify and prioritise the condition, health and safety and safeguarding needs that are critical to keeping school buildings safe, warm and operational.
Our role has been to work alongside Diocese schools to help clearly set out need, risk and impact, ensuring proposed projects are supported by appropriate evidence in line with Diocese guidance. This has included reviewing building condition issues, helping schools demonstrate any health and safety or safeguarding risks, and ensuring projects align with 5-Year Estate Plans and available condition data. Where relevant, we have also supported schools in evidencing operational impacts such as energy efficiency and ongoing maintenance concerns.
The majority of projects we have supported relate to established SCA priority areas, including building fabric repairs, mechanical and electrical replacements, toilet refurbishments, drainage, and essential safeguarding works such as boundary fencing. These types of projects play a vital role in ensuring schools remain safe, compliant and fit for daily use.
Where safeguarding measures are proposed, submissions are supported by clear assessments of risk and impact, alongside relevant contextual information.
In a smaller number of cases, schools have identified exceptional suitability or developmental requirements, such as internal reconfiguration. Where these are put forward, they are supported by an overarching building development plan to demonstrate strategic need and long-term benefit.
We have also assisted schools in reviewing and resubmitting previously unsuccessful projects, ensuring costs are updated and proposals align with current guidance.
With Diocese school clients across Lancashire and Cumbria, Lea Hough brings strong local knowledge of school estates and the practical challenges facing education buildings in the region. We are pleased to support our Diocese partners during this important stage of the SCA prioritisation process and to help ensure investment is directed where it can have the greatest impact.
If you would like to discuss SCA-related condition issues, estate planning, or how Lea Hough can support your school or Diocese, please get in touch.
