Well-maintained, safe school buildings are a priority for the department in order to ensure that they support a high-quality education for all children. The department has allocated over £15 billion since 2015 for keeping schools safe and operational, including £1.8 billion in 2023/24. In addition, the school rebuilding programme is transforming poor condition buildings at over 500 schools.

​It is the responsibility of those who run schools, such as academy trusts, local authorities and voluntary-aided school bodies, to manage the safety and maintenance of their schools based on local knowledge of their estates. They decide how to use annual funding provided, or when to apply to central programmes. Where there are serious issues with buildings that cannot be managed independently the department provides additional support on a case by case basis.

This government introduced the Condition Data Collection (CDC), the first ever comprehensive survey of the school estate and one of the largest data collection programmes of its kind in Europe. Thanks to our evidence led approach, following the James Review of Capital in 2011, this government has been able to allocate capital funding based on consistent data on condition need. Almost all government funded schools in England were visited as part of the CDC programme between 2017 and 2019. Key findings from the CDC programme can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/60af7cbbe90e071b54214c82/Condition_of_School_Buildings_Survey_CDC1_-_key_findings_report.pdf.

This reported a total modelled remediation cost of £11.4 billion to repair or replace building components rated less than good (Grade A), which included elements which were rated as satisfactory.

Significant capital investment has been provided since the CDC was carried out. Condition Data Collection 2 (CDC2) started in 2021 and will complete in 2026. It will provide the department with an improved and up to date evidence base on building condition to inform future capital policy and programmes. Early indications from our CDC2 data collection to date, and feedback from responsible bodies, showed that in almost every case where a D grade component was identified in the CDC1 report, it has since been addressed.

Funding for capital programmes up to 2024/25 comes from the department’s overall £19 billion capital budget set at the 2021 Spending Review. Capital budgets beyond 2024/25 will be determined through a Spending Review, in the normal way.

The department has allocated over £15 billion since 2015 for keeping schools safe and operational, including £1.8 billion in the 2023/24 financial year. This is informed by consistent data on the condition of the school estate. The department also provide extensive guidance on effective management of school buildings, including through Good Estates Management for Schools.

The department publishes detailed guidelines in the Information for Applicants document on GOV.UK each round to support school leaders, staff, and governing bodies at those academies, sixth form colleges and voluntary aided schools eligible to apply for the Condition Improvement Fund (CIF).

This includes tips on how to prepare a good CIF application and advice about the types of evidence applicants should provide to support a bid for different types of building projects, along with an application checklist. This includes information about the services that responsible bodies can seek from technical advisory companies. For CIF 2024/25, the department also produced a recorded overview made available to all applicants before they completed their bids.

Prior to the 2024/25 round opening to applicants, the CIF team invited sessions with eligible responsible bodies who had either made no recent applications or had been repeatedly unsuccessful with bids. We plan to offer further meetings to additional CIF eligible trusts and providers following the outcome of the 2024/25 round this spring.

The department has allocated over £15 billion since 2015 for keeping schools safe and operational, including £1.8 billion in the 2023/24 financial year. This is informed by consistent data on the condition of the school estate. The department also provide extensive guidance on effective management of school buildings, including through Good Estates Management for Schools.

Local authorities, larger multi-academy trusts (MATs) and larger voluntary-aided (VA) school bodies receive an annual school condition allocation (SCA) to invest in priorities across the schools for which they are responsible. Smaller academy trusts and single academy trusts, smaller VA bodies and sixth-form colleges are instead able to bid into the Condition Improvement Fund (CIF).

To be eligible to receive direct SCA for the 2023/24 financial year, MATs and VA bodies must have met two principal criteria. The MAT or VA body must have had 5 or more open schools at the start of September 2022, and those open schools (or their predecessor schools) must have had at least 3,000 pupils counted in the spring 2022 census, or the 2021 to 2022 individualised learner record.

School level allocations for both SCA and CIF eligible schools are calculated using the same formula, to ensure parity. Whilst the allocations for schools in SCA eligible responsible bodies are totalled to form a direct allocation for the responsible body, the allocations for CIF eligible schools and sixth form colleges are combined to form the CIF fund, into which they can bid. This is to ensure that schools and sixth form colleges in smaller responsible bodies, which are CIF eligible, have the opportunity to access sufficient funding to complete projects to improve condition.

Were CIF eligible responsible bodies given direct allocations, they would, in most cases, attract substantially less funding than SCA eligible responsible bodies, as the allocation formula is based on pupil numbers. As a result, direct allocations might not be sufficient for these responsible bodies to complete the projects they require, which is why they are instead given access to CIF.

The department keeps the methodology for allocating condition funding under review.

Academy trusts, local authorities, and voluntary-aided school bodies are responsible for collecting and recording information about their buildings and ensuring they are safe, well-maintained and comply with relevant regulations. The department supports schools and colleges on how this should be done in the Good Estate Management for Schools guidance which is available at GOV.UK.

When the department is made aware of a significant issue with a building that cannot be managed locally, additional support is provided on a case-by-case basis.

As for all construction materials, the lifespan of any elements containing high alumina cement depend on their maintenance history and use. The department does not hold a central register of construction types used in the education estate.

The department has allocated over £15 billion since 2015 for keeping schools safe and operational, including £1.8 billion committed this financial year, informed by consistent data on the school estate. In addition, the School Rebuilding Programme will transform poor condition buildings at over 500 schools across England.

Mr Speaker, allow me to take this moment to pay tribute to all school staff, leaders, children and their families, who have shown great fortitude in dealing with the disruption caused by RAAC. We have moved quickly to make sure all schools with suspected RAAC are surveyed and to work with schools to put in place alternative arrangements. Of course none of that is perfect, but schools have shown great flexibility in working towards that, such that we now have 99% of affected schools back with full-time face-to-face education.

It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

On 19 March, the government published guidance for schools, giving them the flexibility to provide meals or shop vouchers to the 1.3 million children entitled to free school meals if they are no longer attending school, either due to closures or as a result of self-isolating at home.

The guidance can be viewed at the following address: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-free-school-meals-guidance.

The additional funding announced by my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, in June 2018 is helping to improve the capacity and capability of governors, including training for chairs and vice-chairs through our existing governance leadership programmes. These programmes are available to eligible participants in Opportunity North East local authorities and the £500 rate will fully fund participation of the chair or vice-chair of governors. For ONE Vision schools, where governor training is identified as a priority by the analysis of need for both the chair or vice-chair, additional support will be provided. More information on the national programme can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/school-governors-professional-development.

The government’s careers strategy, published in 2017, called for more evidence of effective approaches in primary schools to allow schools to learn from best practice and build their expertise. We asked our delivery partner, the Careers & Enterprise Company, to publish research on ‘what works’ in career-related learning activities in primary school. The findings have informed a £2 million investment fund to develop and extend career-related learning. Successful applicants will be confirmed soon, with delivery beginning in September 2019 and both local enterprise partnerships in the North East were eligible to apply. More information can be found here: https://www.careersandenterprise.co.uk/funding/primary-fund.

We will publish our response to the first stage of our consultation on a national funding formula for schools and for pupils with high needs later this year. At the same time we will put forward stage two of the consultation, exploring our detailed proposals on the design of the formula. This will include illustrative allocations for all schools and areas. After a full consultation, we will make final decisions and confirm arrangements in the new year. Until then, we are unable to comment on the changes that schools and areas would see to their budgets as a result of the formulae. We are determined to introduce change that is manageable for schools and local authorities, and our consultation will say more about the pace at which schools will move onto the formula.

We will publish our response to the first stage of our consultation on a national funding formula for schools and for pupils with high needs later this year. At the same time we will put forward stage two of the consultation, exploring our detailed proposals on the design of the formula. This will include illustrative allocations for all schools and areas. After a full consultation, we will make final decisions and confirm arrangements in the new year. Until then, we are unable to comment on the changes that schools and areas would see to their budgets as a result of the formulae. We are determined to introduce change that is manageable for schools and local authorities, and our consultation will say more about the pace at which schools will move onto the formula.

We will publish our response to the first stage of our consultation on a national funding formula for schools and for pupils with high needs later this year. At the same time we will put forward stage two of the consultation, exploring our detailed proposals on the design of the formula. This will include illustrative allocations for all schools and areas. After a full consultation, we will make final decisions and confirm arrangements in the new year. Until then, we are unable to comment on the changes that schools and areas would see to their budgets as a result of the formulae. We are determined to introduce change that is manageable for schools and local authorities, and our consultation will say more about the pace at which schools will move onto the formula.

I would completely disagree with that assertion. I ask the hon. Lady to ensure that she and the schools in her area take part in the next stage of the consultation. She should not forget the funding that has already been allocated by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor as part of the northern powerhouse fund for schools.