Schools: Capital Funding

Tuesday 28th March 2023 Written Statements

[The Minister for Schools (Nick Gibb)]

Today the Minister for the School System and Student Finance, my noble Friend Baroness Barran, has made the following statement:

Today I am announcing capital funding to support the creation of new school places and improve the condition of the school estate. This investment will support the Government’s priority to ensure that every child has the opportunity of a place at a good school.

I am announcing £1.8 billion of capital funding for the 2023-24 financial year to improve school buildings. This will support local authorities, academy trusts and other bodies responsible for school buildings to ensure that the estate is safe and well-maintained. This includes:

£1.1 billion in school condition allocations (SCA) for local authorities, large multi-academy trusts and large voluntary-aided school bodies—such as dioceses—to invest in improving the condition of their schools.

£0.5 billion for the condition improvement fund (CIF) programme. This is an annual bidding round for essential maintenance projects at schools in small and stand-alone academy trusts, small voluntary-aided bodies and sixth-form colleges. Outcomes of the 2023-24 bidding round will be announced in due course.

£0.2 billion of devolved formula capital (DFC) funding allocated directly for schools to spend on their capital priorities.

This funding is part of the total £19.4 billion of capital funding announced at the 2021 spending review to support the education sector between 2022-23 and 2024-25.

I am also announcing £487 million for the 2025-26 financial year to fund local authorities to create school places needed for September 2026.

These funding allocations will allow local authorities and other responsible bodies to plan ahead with confidence, to invest strategically to ensure they deliver good school places for every child who needs one, and to maintain and improve the condition of the school estate to support effective education.

Full details have been published on the Department for Education section on the www.gov.uk website.

[HCWS680]