The leaders of Cumbria County Council have written to the Government asking for improvements to the county's infrastructure, education and technology.

Stewart Young, Labour leader, Peter Thornton, Liberal Democrat deputy leader and James Airey

Conservative Group leader, said they wanted to be one of the first counties to set out their tasks for the new Government, in light of its pledge to level up and unite the country.

The leaders said education was "an immediate concern" for the county council.

The letter said: "As a council we are responsible for maintaining 186 schools consisting of 169 primary schools, 10 secondary schools, three Pupil Referral Units and four Special Needs Schools.

"Over the past five years the Schools Condition Allocation that the Council receives from the Department for Eeducation has reduced year on year from £6.711m in 2014/15 to £4.797m in 2018/19.

"Previous surveying of the schools estate projected a £10.7m requirement per annum to keep our schools maintained to a baseline acceptable standard."

The leaders said unless there were real changes to funding, schools were at genuine risk of closure "due to the lack of basic maintenance necessary to keep Cumbrian children safe."

The leaders told the Government they wanted it to be aware of schemes that were "investment ready for delivery within the next five years."

The projects are:

Major Road Network (MRN) and Large Local Major (LLM) funding

Cumbria County Council has submitted three business cases to the Department for Transport (DfT) for MRN and LLM funding for schemes on the County Council highway network.

The following schemes have been supported and endorsed by Transport for the North and are ready to move on to the next stage of delivery once funding is approved:

- Kendal Northern Access Road

- A595 improvements at Grizebeck

- A595 improvements at Bothel

Highways England Route Investment Strategy (RIS2)

DfT’s RIS2 will set the investment plan for the Highways England road network for the next five years starting from April 2020. Requests from Cumbria include:

- A Whitehaven Relief Road

- Dualling of the A66 from Scotch Corner to Penrith.

- Improvements to the A590 including an Ulverston Bypass

- Improvements to the A69/A689

Rail Network Enhancements Pipeline (RNEP)

DfT has already made funding commitments to support the development of two business cases: Cumbria Coastal Railway Line and the Borders Railway feasibility study.

Continued support for these schemes will be required so that they can progress to the delivery phase through the RNEP process.

In addition, DfT support for improving the reliability of rail services and up-grading of the rolling stock will remain important issues for the rail franchise contracts. Linked to this, the council is currently working with Avanti and Network Rail to progress proposals for Carlisle Station Gateway as part of the Borderlands Inclusive Growth Deal.

Shared Rural Network (SRN) and Future Telecoms Infrastructure Review (FTIR)

Through the Borderlands Inclusive Growth Deal, the county council will seek to maximise the opportunities for mobile and digital investment alongside the Government's future SRN and FTIR investment plans.

The letter told Government: "We welcome the prospect of working closely with you and your government and look forward to jointly delivering positive outcomes for our Cumbrian communities.

"By working together we can support our local economies and communities to prosper."