Romiley Gazette Investigation

6th November

A flagship school redevelopment in Stockport — once budgeted at £5.5 million — ended up costing more than £11 million, and new analysis by the Romiley Gazette suggests even the council’s own numbers don’t add up.

The North Reddish School project, completed in 2011, has been shrouded in financial mystery ever since, with questions about its spiralling costs repeatedly ruled “out of order” in council meetings. But figures obtained from a 2008 cost report by NPS Stockport Limited reveal inconsistencies in the way the project’s price tag was calculated.

The documents show that the school’s floor area was increased from 2,600m² to 3,185m², an expansion of 585m². That change was listed as costing £1.05 million under a heading labelled “Revision to the scheme.”

However, the same report cites an estimated build cost of £1,450 per square metre — a benchmark based on national Building Cost Information Service (BCIS) data and other local school projects.
At that rate, the extra 585m² should have added around £848,000, not £1.05 million — leaving a discrepancy of approximately £200,000 unexplained.

“The council’s own figures don’t align,” said a construction cost analyst who reviewed the report for the Gazette. “If £1,450 per square metre was the standard used, the £1.05 million charge for the increased floor area is significantly above that. Either additional, unlisted costs were bundled in — or the figure was overstated.”

The same cost schedule includes further rises attributed to planning and regulatory demands, such as:

  • £280,000 for changing areas to meet Sport England standards
  • £231,000 for additional drainage and site services
  • £125,000 for a new sprinkler system required by building regulations
  • £472,000 for IT and furniture
  • £1.14 million for inflation and delayed start dates

By 2008, before construction had even begun, the scheme’s total forecast had risen to £9.93 million — nearly double the original £5.5 million plan.
When the school opened in 2011, insiders confirmed that the final outturn exceeded £11 million, but no official audit of the overspend has ever been published.

Funding relied heavily on capital receipts, including the sale of the Edgeley Centre, Fir Tree Primary School, and other education sites, after targeted central government funds were diverted to previous projects.

Despite repeated Freedom of Information requests, the council has refused to release a post-completion cost breakdown, leaving residents and councillors in the dark about where the extra millions went.

One former official familiar with the project told the Gazette:

“It was meant to be a straightforward school rebuild. Instead, the budget almost doubled, the paperwork stopped in 2008, and nobody’s been allowed to ask about it since.”

Local campaigners are now demanding a full independent review.

“Public money deserves public accountability,” said one Romiley resident. “If the maths in the council’s own report doesn’t add up, people have a right to know why.”

The Romiley Gazette will continue to investigate the North Reddish School project and press for the release of the full financial records behind one of Stockport’s most expensive — and least explained — education schemes.