Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of awarding teachers a 4 per cent pay increase on schools’ ability to (a) afford education supplies and (b) carry out building repairs.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
School funding is increasing by £3.7 billion in the 2025/26 financial year, meaning that core school budgets will total £65.3 billion compared to £61.6 billion in 2024/25.
This includes the £2.3 billion announced at the October Budget and £1.4 billion in additional funding being provided to support schools and high needs settings, with the increases to employer National Insurance contributions from April 2025 and the 2025 staff pay awards.
As part of that, the department is providing schools with £615 million in additional funding in the 2025/26 financial year to support them with overall costs, including the costs of the 4% schools teacher pay award and the 3.2% local government support staff pay offer in 2025/26. Schools, like other parts of the public sector, are being asked to do their part and to fund the first 1% of the staff pay awards. The circumstances will be different for individual schools, because they have autonomy over their spending, including staffing and educational supplies.
The government has increased capital investment to improve the condition of school buildings across England to £2.1 billion for the 2025/26 financial year. We have also given a long term commitment to increase annual capital maintenance investment per year through to 2034/35. This is in addition to investment of almost £20 billion in the School Rebuilding Programme through to 2034/35, delivering rebuilding projects at over 500 schools across England within the existing programme, with a further 250 schools to be selected within the next two years.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to support schools that have discovered asbestos insulation in their building structures.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government has increased investment to improve the condition of school buildings across England to £2.1 billion for the 2025/26 financial year. We have also given a long term commitment to increase annual capital maintenance investment per year through to 2034/35.
In addition to capital funding and programmes, the department provides a range of guidance to help local authorities, academy trusts, governing bodies and other responsible bodies deliver their responsibilities to keep buildings safe, in good working order and compliant with relevant regulations. This includes school estate management standards and good estate management for schools. We also make available comprehensive risk protection for public sector schools as an alternative to commercial insurance through our risk protection assurance scheme.
Any school that suspects structural damage to its buildings, whether caused by badgers or anything else, should seek professional advice and, if the issue results in closure of part or all of the school, should notify the department.
The department expects all responsible bodies to have robust plans in place to manage any asbestos in their school and college buildings effectively, in line with their legal duties, drawing on appropriate professional advice. Asbestos management in schools and other buildings is regulated by the Health and Safety Executive, and the department has published guidance to help school duty holders comply with the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012.
The department provides additional advice and support on a case-by-case basis in situations where serious and urgent safety issues with a building cannot be managed independently by a responsible body.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to support schools experiencing structural damage caused by badgers.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government has increased investment to improve the condition of school buildings across England to £2.1 billion for the 2025/26 financial year. We have also given a long term commitment to increase annual capital maintenance investment per year through to 2034/35.
In addition to capital funding and programmes, the department provides a range of guidance to help local authorities, academy trusts, governing bodies and other responsible bodies deliver their responsibilities to keep buildings safe, in good working order and compliant with relevant regulations. This includes school estate management standards and good estate management for schools. We also make available comprehensive risk protection for public sector schools as an alternative to commercial insurance through our risk protection assurance scheme.
Any school that suspects structural damage to its buildings, whether caused by badgers or anything else, should seek professional advice and, if the issue results in closure of part or all of the school, should notify the department.
The department expects all responsible bodies to have robust plans in place to manage any asbestos in their school and college buildings effectively, in line with their legal duties, drawing on appropriate professional advice. Asbestos management in schools and other buildings is regulated by the Health and Safety Executive, and the department has published guidance to help school duty holders comply with the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012.
The department provides additional advice and support on a case-by-case basis in situations where serious and urgent safety issues with a building cannot be managed independently by a responsible body.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of the structural issues in The Corbet School in Shropshire.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government has increased capital funding to £2.1 billion for school maintenance in the 2025/26 financial year, almost £300 million more than in 2024/25. As part of this, the department announced on 30 May that the £470 million Condition Improvement Fund (CIF) will support 789 essential projects at 656 eligible schools and sixth form colleges.
The appeals round for unsuccessful applicants to CIF 2025/26 opened on 2 June and closed at 12 noon on 23 June. We aim to announce the results of appeals in August, and do not comment on individual cases beforehand in order to be fair to all applicants.
Schools and sixth-form colleges eligible for CIF, including The Corbet School, may apply for Urgent Capital Support (UCS) at any time, where they have evidence of serious and urgent issues that threaten the operation of the school and which cannot be managed independently or wait for a future funding round. Further details on UCS can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/condition-improvement-fund#urgent-capital-support.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if her Department will approve The Corbet School’s appeal against the rejection of its 2025-26 Condition Improvement Fund bids.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government has increased capital funding to £2.1 billion for school maintenance in the 2025/26 financial year, almost £300 million more than in 2024/25. As part of this, the department announced on 30 May that the £470 million Condition Improvement Fund (CIF) will support 789 essential projects at 656 eligible schools and sixth form colleges.
The appeals round for unsuccessful applicants to CIF 2025/26 opened on 2 June and closed at 12 noon on 23 June. We aim to announce the results of appeals in August, and do not comment on individual cases beforehand in order to be fair to all applicants.
Schools and sixth-form colleges eligible for CIF, including The Corbet School, may apply for Urgent Capital Support (UCS) at any time, where they have evidence of serious and urgent issues that threaten the operation of the school and which cannot be managed independently or wait for a future funding round. Further details on UCS can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/condition-improvement-fund#urgent-capital-support.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to support schools in rural areas.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
The government recognises the essential role that small schools play in their communities, many of which are in rural areas. The schools national funding formula (NFF) distributes core funding for mainstream schools. It accounts for the particular challenges faced by small rural schools through the sparsity factor. This recognises that some schools are necessarily small because they are remote and do not have the same opportunities to grow or make efficiency savings as other schools.
In the 2025/26 financial year, primary schools eligible for sparsity funding attract up to £57,400, and all other schools eligible for sparsity funding attract up to £83,400.
Small schools have also benefited from the increase to core factors in the NFF in the 2025/26 financial year, including the NFF lump sum set at £145,100. The lump sum provides a fixed amount of funding that is unrelated to pupil-led factors. It is therefore particularly beneficial to small schools that are more reliant on an element of funding that is not driven by pupil numbers.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she received representations from medical professionals before reducing the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund's fair access limit.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The changes made to the criteria for the adoption and special guardianship support fund ensure that each child can still access a significant package of support. The department always considers the impact of decisions on vulnerable children.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department undertook a risk assessment before reducing the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund's fair access limit.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The changes made to the criteria for the adoption and special guardianship support fund ensure that each child can still access a significant package of support. The department always considers the impact of decisions on vulnerable children.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of reductions to the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund's fair access limit on the financial stability of adoptive families.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The adoption and special guardianship support fund (ASGSF) is continuing to play an important role in the overall stability of adoptive families, alongside other forms of support. This government is committed to breaking down barriers to opportunity. The ASGSF is an important part of this, but other sources of support are available to adoptive children and families. For example, this year, we are making £500 million available to local authorities to roll out Family Help and Child Protection nationally to transform services and transition towards earlier intervention.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of changes to employers' National Insurance contributions on specialist colleges.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department is receiving compensation in recognition of the increase in National Insurance contributions (NICs) paid by institutions it funds, including colleges, schools and other state-funded special educational needs and disabilities provision. Work is in progress to determine how that funding will be distributed, and more information will be provided as soon as is practicable. This NICs funding will be in addition to the £300 million and £1 billion funding increases announced at the Autumn Budget 2024 for further education and young people with high needs respectively, in 2025/26.