Children in the Westcountry risk being taught in crumbling, overcrowded or leaky classrooms because of a £3.6 billion "black hole" in the budget for school repairs, according to Labour.
Data published following a series of Freedom of Information requests suggests that local councils are facing a significant repairs backlog because of budget cuts. Devon's bill is £78 million, and Plymouth's £10m. Cornwall and Torbay councils did not respond.
Figures suggest that the amount of money set aside to rebuild state schools in England will cover less than a quarter of the real costs. But the Government dismissed the claims as "nonsense" and insisted it was spending more than Labour put aside in its first eight years in power.
A Devon County Council spokesman said: "We have never been in a situation where we have enough money to do all the work we want but the highest priority repairs are always carried out as quickly as possible."
Labour obtained figures from 89 authorities in England – around six-in-10 – and found they had £3.6 billion worth of outstanding maintenance work to bring local schools up to scratch.
Stephen Twigg, Labour's Shadow Education Secretary, said a decision to slash the school buildings budget would leave some children being taught in substandard surroundings. "Too many pupils are having lessons in classrooms that are crumbling, overcrowded or with leaky roofs," he said.
But a Department for Education spokeswoman said "this story is nonsense" and it is "spending £6bn over the course of this parliament on school maintenance".
The row comes after the coalition Government cancelled Labour's Building Schools for the Future programme, claiming it was hugely bureaucratic and resulted in the taxpayer spending much more for schools than the market rate. Sixteen school building projects were scrapped across the Westcountry, including Tiverton and Marland.
Last year, Education Secretary Michael Gove revealed 261 of the most dilapidated schools in the country will be rebuilt or receive major repairs. But more than half – or 326 schools – that applied for money have missed out. Ten schools in Devon were among the winners, though the county's education authority wanted 13 fixed. One application in Cornwall was over-looked.
In Devon, unsuccessful bids were Tiverton High School, Marland Special School near Torrington, and Marlborough with South Huish Primary near Kingsbridge. Cornwall had applied for money to increase the number of places at special schools in the east of the county.
