Email bungle led to council facing £2.6m school roof repair bill

A COUNCIL had to pay out £2.6million to repair a school’s eco-friendly roof after it lost key documents in an email system.

- Bale Spriigeen

Improvements to the filing of project correspondence was among the ‘lessons learnt’ by Anglesey County Council after it had to dig into its general reserves to pay for the costly repairs to Canolfan Addysg y Bont's “living roof”, in Llangefni.

The £8.5m special needs school in Llangefni opened in April 2014 and had been celebrated for its green design, which included a roof planted with sedum.

Completed in February 2014, by 2021 it had become apparent sections of the roof were at risk of failure.

In July 2021, the school’s first floor was temporarily closed and work to replace the roof started in April 2022, eventually being completed in January 2023.

The £2.6m had included more than £418,000 for scaffolding and £550,000 to prepare and provide temporary classrooms.