Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on reversing the decision to clawback any capital grant allocation allowance given to further education providers that has not been spent by 21 March 2021.

My right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister, announced in June that an initial £200 million of the £1.5 billion capital funding to upgrade the further education estate was to be brought forward to this year. This was paid to all eligible further education colleges and designated institutions in September 2020. This Further Education Capital Allocation is supporting further education colleges to undertake immediate remedial work in this financial year to upgrade the condition of their estate and is providing a boost to the economy by supporting the pipeline of new work for our construction sector. Details of the wider Further Education Capital Transformation programme, which will invest the remaining £1.3 billion over the coming 5 years, to upgrade the further education estate, will be announced in due course.

We are pleased that the majority of colleges have identified immediate projects to improve the condition of the estate. Some colleges have identified there would be an operational benefit to being able to carry out works at Easter or during the summer holidays next year. We are engaging with Her Majesty’s Treasury on this matter and will inform colleges of the outcome in due course.