I NOTE from your report that City of York Council need to spend millions of pounds to bring up to date inadequate school buildings (January 24).

This is the direct result of inadequate funding by politicians of all persuasions, who persistently seek to do things "on the cheap" in order to seem to be "saving" money.

Like the railways under the direction of the late unlamented Dr Beeching, everything is done for short-term gain and long-term loss.

Instead of "grasping the nettle" and facing up to the fact that buildings should be constructed to a high specification in order to last a long time (like the Victorians who foresaw a long-term future), they were erected with flat roofs - not a good idea in this country - and poor, cheap, chipboard soffits etc.

We the taxpayers and schoolchildren are reaping the "benefits" of this ridiculous strategy by having to pay for their repair rather than having the work done properly in the first place.

Michael N McCulloch,

Coda Avenue,

Bishopthorpe, York.

Updated: 11:26 Monday, January 31, 2005