EDUCATION chiefs would need to spend nearly £27m on schools across Halton just to keep up with the backlog of repairs and maintenance needed to keep them up to scratch.

The amount needed by Halton Borough Council's Local Education Authority to refurbish school buildings is only £5m shy of neighbouring Liverpool.

The staggering amount compares with a £67m bill for the Cheshire region, more than £244m in Lancashire and £220m for the rest of Merseyside.

Although local education authorities reported that Liverpool needs just under £32m for repairs and maintenance, Sefton outstrips Runcorn and Widnes with a total need of more than £88m, Wirral £45.6m, St Helens £27.34m and Knowsley just over £25.5m.

Each English local education authority was required to supply data to the authority, based on a series of condition assessments.

However, the figures in relation to backlog repair work also covers work needed over a five-year period from the assessment dates, which includes cyclical and scheduled maintenance.

The figures around school buildings maintenance requirements emerged during a parliamentary debate with the secretary of state for education and skills, Jacqui Smith.

Schools minister Jacqui Smith said: 'Progress is being made year by year in improving the quality of the school building stock.'

She added central Government capital support for investment in schools has increased from £700m in 1996-97 to £5.5 billion this year.

It is expected to rise to £6.3 billion by 2007-2008.

A spokeswoman for Halton council said: 'Our schools are generally in good condition, but we would welcome any future allocations from the Government to enable us to speed up our maintenance programme.'