CRUMBLING schools that are “not fit for purpose” have been left with no hope of rebuilding cash, the region’s largest local authority has protested.

A Government scheme to rescue “priority schools” has been condemned by Durham County Council as inadequate and based on flawed information.

Just three of 19 county schools that applied for rebuilding grants were successful when a £2bn department for education (DfE) fund was allocated in February.

And six of the 16 that lost out suffered a double whammy – after original rebuilding projects were axed by the Coalition when it came to power in 2010.

Now Durham council chiefs have protested that:

* Schools had applications rejected despite being rated ‘D’ for their physical condition – meaning “life expired and/or serious risk of imminent failure”.

* The DfE used inaccurate “high level” data surveys to make its decisions – rather than Durham’s more detailed condition information.

* Schools which had start dates for rebuilding work confirmed in 2010 now have “no date for when their school will receive funding”.

* Even successful schools have “no clear picture of what will be funded” – because only individual blocks will be rebuilt, not the whole site.

* Those successful schools must re-use old “furniture, fittings and equipment”, including tables and chairs.

The protest comes in evidence to the Commons education select committee, which carried a rapid-fire inquiry before Parliament was wound up for the general election.

The local authority wrote: “The LA, along with others, feel let down and confused about the whole approach, especially the inconsistency of information received.

“There appears to be no strategic national plan to quantify the scale of the work needed in our schools and to allocate timescales for when schools are likely to receive funding.”

The council’s submission describes the state of some of the schools that lost out, including:

* Ferryhill School - “not fit for purpose, in particular the curtain walling system and boilers which are in excess of £1.5m to replace”.

* St. Leonards Catholic School, Durham City – “the school consider the PDS [property data survey] to be deeply flawed….it is a cosmetic approach”.

* Crook Primary – “requested funding in excess of £300K to address the windows and heating…but funding was denied”.

* Sugar Hill Primary, Newton Aycliffe - “requested funding in excess of £300K to address heating, roofing, windows etc...but again the application was denied”.

Ferryhill and St Leonard’s both missed out on Priority Schools Building Programme (PSPB) cash after having their Building Schools for the Future (BSF) schemes axed five years ago.

The other four schools hit twice are Shildon Campus of Greenfield Community College, Belmont Community School, in Durham City, Durham Sixth Form Centre and Tanfield School, in Stanley.

When the £2bn was handed out, Nick Clegg - on a visit to the North-East - hailed the announcement as delivering “better, brighter, warmer classrooms” to thousands of pupils.

Ministers later refused MPs’ demands to release the “state of decay” rankings of individual schools on a giant database of all 27,000 across England.