A MAJOR refurbishment of three outdoor education centres used by Bradford schools is almost complete, but has overspent by over £180,000.

Works to improve facilities at Nell Bank in Ilkley, including the addition of a 64 bed overnight accommodation block, are due to end later this month.

The project follows refurbishments at two other centres, Ingleborough Hall in Clapham and Buckden House in Upper Wharfedale, both of which are used for day trips and residentials by local schools.

Just over £1,773,000 had been allocated to the refurbishments, with £1.5 million provided by the Bradford Schools Forum.

Tomorrow the forum will hear how the refurbishment projects are doing, and be told that a number of issues with the projects have led to an overspend of £181,046

Explaining the overspend, the report says: “Ingleborough and Buckden are listed and in a National Park, which has resulted in considerably more work and time to achieve consents.

“As works commenced it also became clear that additional works would be required due to structural issues which became evident as the works progressed.

“In addition, the work for Nell Bank was returned with a significantly higher than expected tender price. This has resulted in a capital overspend of approximately £180,000, which is currently being underwritten by the Local Authority.”

It says the overspend could be recouped from future income of the centres.

A decision was made in 2013 to have the centres run by trusts rather than directly by the council, with the authority providing the up front costs needed to improve and expand the centres. The decision was made after visitor numbers to the centres fell, partly due to the outdated conditions. In the 2011/2012 year, occupancy at Buckden House was as low as 51 per cent.

The report says that despite the overspend, the results of the improvements to Buckden House and Ingleborough Hall are “encouraging.”

It says: “Whereas significant deficit budgets existed in previous years, the current position is encouraging.

“At the end of the financial year 2014/2015 the two centres were operating at a deficit of £139,108. From the beginning of April 2015 to date the financial turnaround has been significant. Where the refurbishment has now been completed a great deal of progress is being made.”

It says the revenue of Nell Bank will “significantly increase” once the refurbishment work is complete.

The Schools forum meets in Bradford City Hall at 8am.