KGH and seven schools across north Northamptonshire set to benefit from government funding for 'essential maintenance fixes'

Funding has also been granted to several schools for projects such as fixing crumbling roofs, updating old boilers, or making improvements to fire safety measures.

KGH will receive £4.096m to make improvements to electrical and energy systems, while urgent fire safety works will be carried out at Bishop Stopford School as part of the Government’s promise to deliver public infrastructure improvements through its Plan for Change.

The news comes soon after the hospital was awarded £713,000 for 1,000 new solar panels, as well as the commencement of work on the £57m energy centre, and a new £33m extension to the Rockingham Wing as part of RAAC works.

Kettering MP, Rosie Wrighting, believes the funding to be ‘vital’.

She said: “Since being elected last year I have consistently raised Kettering General Hospital with ministers so I am delighted that it will receive this funding.

“This Labour Government continues to deliver on our promise to residents in Kettering, Burton Latimer, Desborough, Rothwell and our villages that we will turn the NHS around, step by step.

“We are not only lifting the NHS off its knees with more appointments and more GPs, but helping to make it fit for the future with vital maintenance to help prevent cancelled appointments and operations.”

Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Wes Streeting, said: “A decade-and-a-half of underinvestment left hospitals crumbling, with burst pipes flooding emergency departments, faulty electrical systems shutting down operating theatres, and mothers giving birth in outdated facilities that lack basic dignity.

“We are on a mission to rebuild our NHS through investment and modernisation. Patients and staff deserve to be in buildings that are safe, comfortable and fit for purpose. Through our Plan for Change, we will make our NHS fit for the future.”

Bishop Stopford School is one of 656 schools in the country, and seven in north Northmptonshire, that will also benefit from a share of a £470m funding pot to fix and upgrade school facilities, in Bishop Stopford’s case for ‘urgent fire safety works.’

Rosie Wrighting added: “I am also really pleased that Bishop Stopford School will benefit from this funding package.

“Parents and pupils expect school estates to be safe, and that is what this Labour Government is delivering.”

Other schools include Glapthorn Church of England Primary School, Polebrook Church of England Primary School, Wollaston School, Friars Academy, Newton Road School and Irchester Community Primary School.

Education Secretary, Bridget Phillipson, said: “The defining image of the school estate under the previous government was children sitting under steel props to stop crumbling concrete falling on their heads. It simply isn't good enough.

“Parents expect their children to learn in a safe warm environment. It’s what children deserve, and it is what we are delivering.

“This investment is about more than just buildings - it's about showing children that their education matters, their futures matter, and this government is determined to give them the best possible start in life.”