Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when he plans to publish the criteria for applications for the next round of secondary schools buildings funding programme.

We are delivering on my right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister’s commitment to a 10-year school rebuilding programme, which will give long-term stability and certainty both to schools and the construction sector and support more efficient delivery.

The programme is launching with a commitment to 50 new school rebuilding projects a year, replacing many poor condition and ageing school buildings with modern, energy efficient designs, transforming education for thousands of pupils. Investment will continue to be targeted at school buildings in the worst condition across England – including substantial investment in the Midlands and the North. We will set out further details of the programme shortly.

Since 2015, we have allocated £9.5 billion to maintain and improve the condition of the school estate, including an additional £560 million in financial year 2020-21 for essential maintenance. A further £1.8 billion has been committed for 2021-22. On top of that the existing Priority School Building Programme is rebuilding or refurbishing buildings in the worst condition at over 500 schools across England.