Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the funding required to maintain the school estate.

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.