Why Shipston High School revamp needed an extra £2m - a budget increase of more than 20 per cent

The council’s cabinet – the Conservative panel of councillors in charge of major service areas – approved works to add an extra 150 places back in July 2022, increasing the school’s annual intake capacity by 30 pupils.

It includes plans to build a new sports hall and changing facilities as well as refurbishing and remodelling existing buildings.

The council’s report reads: “The school currently lacks the appropriate indoor sports and exam facilities. Therefore, the provision of the sports hall is essential for them to be able to operate at the increased PAN (pupil admission number).

“It is not typical to provide a new sports hall as part of a secondary school expansion and therefore costs will be higher than benchmark comparisons.”

With costs increasing, amended plans shaved £655,000 from the overall cost by “omitting various elements”, including extensions to the dining hall and activity studio, but that still left another £2.188 million to be found.

The reasons for soaring costs include more external works and drainage being required, the price of hauling materials being higher than anticipated, inflation, more asbestos being discovered in old buildings than expected and delays to the planning process.

Deputy leader of Warwickshire County Council Councillor Peter Butlin (Con, Admirals & Cawston), who also looks after finance and property, highlighted some of those issues but explained that the extra money would come from developer contributions – money paid by those buildings new homes in the area through the planning process.

“When you go into old buildings, it is surprising the number of times that we discover asbestos,” he said.

“Another thing that has plagued this particular project is the prolonged planning application for the new sports hall which we hope will be determined pretty shortly.”

Leader councillor Izzi Seccombe OBE (Con, Stour & the Vale) was keen to focus on the wider benefits.

“It is welcomed that this will also be available for community use," she said.

“The sports facilities will be used on a wider scale so the school, in the heart of its community, will serve that wider community.”