Schools in Wales face a total maintenance bill of more than £500m, with a £93m backlog of urgent works, a Senedd member revealed.

Cefin Campbell, Plaid Cymru’s shadow education secretary, raised concerns about the 22 councils in Wales facing an average backlog of £24m each.

He told the Senedd that 355 schools, 24 per cent of all schools in Wales, require urgent maintenance, according to responses to freedom of information requests.

Education Secretary Lynne Neagle pointed to the Welsh Government’s announcement of an extra £35m for school and college repairs, with £20m earmarked for maintenance.

She pledged that funding to undertake repairs would be prioritised, arguing investment in Welsh schools is in “sharp contrast” to that over the border in England.