Gate Safe issues response to Government’s strategy for school buildings

Ultimately, buildings and outdoor spaces should be safe and compliant with the relevant Health and Safety requirements. The Department for Education’s recommendations cite that ‘responsible bodies’ (including local authorities) should proactively manage, inspect and maintain a given college estate with an emphasis on long-term strategic maintenance.

Naturally, it’s entirely fair to deduce that this governance should include gates on the estate, both automated and manual. The latter refers to long-term strategic maintenance and renewal that prioritises condition, risk and resilience. These are all consistent with Gate Safe’s views on the need for continuous risk assessment via regular checks conducted by a nominated member of staff in addition to more in-depth reviews transacted by a professionally trained gate engineer specialist every six months as a minimum.

Shift change

Where Gate Safe hopes to see a shift change is in relation to the clear and explicit emphasis on accountability across the senior leadership team and governors which, put simply, means that any failure to have full oversight of the estate (including gates) is a leadership issue.

The majority of school leaders only approach Gate Safe if there has been an accident, or a near-miss, either at the school concerned or within the vicinity. This in sharp contrast with the desired adoption of regular maintenance by an informed gate engineer who, in the case of automated gates, understands the risks and is equipped with the knowledge to mitigate them.

Sadly, on those occasions where Gate Safe has proactively brought an unsafe gate to the attention of the head teacher, this has generally fallen on deaf ears.

Under the New Education Estates Strategy, the senior leadership team and governors should clarify who’s responsible for any gates on site and schedule “a formal estates and compliance review at Board level”. It would be unreasonable to expect a head teacher or governor to understand the nuances of what constitutes a safe and legally compliant gate, but they do have a responsibility to seek out specialist and suitably trained professionals to install and maintain any gates on the estate. This also extends to requesting a Declaration of Conformity for any automated gate installations and to have an understanding of the appropriate inspection regime, both on the part of the school itself and the chosen competent professional company/installer.

Secured by Design

Gate Safe is proud to be working with the police security initiative Secured by Design and also Zurich Insurance (the renowned insurance company of choice for the schools sector) as part of its Safe School Gates campaign.

Both organisations are in agreement that all gates – and particularly so those located on a school site – should be subject to regular inspections by trained industry professionals to ensure ongoing safety and compliance. This is very relevant as Gate Safe has been advised that an Ofsted inspection covers educational inspection not technical or building safety inspection. As such, there’s an inherent assumption that the gates are assured through Health and Safety law, local authority/Trust responsibility, insurers, Building Control and external audits.

Given Gate Safe’s conversations with Building Control, the charity is concerned that this ‘assurance’ is not in place. Nor is the required Health and Safety law being followed. Ultimately, the responsibility for premises compliance lies with the local authority, the Academy Trust and governing body. This has been reiterated in the recent Government regulations.

Safety requirements

Finally, Gate Safe has identified the issue of new gates being installed which might be impressive and aesthetically pleasing, but don’t meet the necessary safety requirements. With budgets increasingly under scrutiny, it’s hoped that, under this new guidance, schools spend their money wisely. If they cannot afford to install a safe gate and the mandatory maintenance required of (notably) an automatic gate hen the expenditure should be questioned.

This is particularly appropriate given the Government’s plans to reopen 250 more schools in early 2026, in addition to the 518 schools already selected for rebuilding and the confirmation of a £12 billion budget for maintenance, £10 billion for the School Rebuilding Programme and £710 million for renewal and retrofit projects.

Gate Safe affirms that schools should represent a safe sanctuary. Gates contained within any school site should serve to improve the safety of pupils, staff and visitors alike. They should never be installed as – or otherwise be allowed to become – a potential hazard capable of serious injury or worse.