'Irreparable damage' Children's laureate says crisis has written off a generation

The poor state of school buildings is exposing pupils to "irreparable" harm, the UK's children's laureate has said, after a Guardian investigation revealed that more than 1.5 million students in England were being taught in dilapidated schools.

- Josh Halliday Michael Goodier

The award-winning screenwriter Frank Cottrell-Boyce said the Conservative party's decision to freeze funding per pupil in England for 14 years had left the country with an "enormous" equality gap.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies said this year that investment in England's ageing school buildings, many of which have been affected by the crumbling concrete Raac, was 25% lower in real terms than in the mid-2000s. Cottrell-Boyce said: "This is a result of austerity. This is a result of a chosen policy. It's that absolute lack of concern about any kind of equality. It's demonstrably, visibly getting worse. The gaps are enormous."

The 65-year-old author is best known for his children's fiction as well as writing 24 Hour Party People and the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games. He is also the UK's children's laureate, a prestigious title sponsored by the bookseller Waterstones.