Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has provided additional capital funding to Dormanstown Primary Academy in Redcar constituency to improve the condition of parts of the school that were rated as being poor by the Condition Data Collection survey.

Nothing is more important than the safety of pupils and staff. It is the responsibility of those who run schools - academy trusts, Local Authorities and voluntary-aided school bodies - to manage the safety and maintenance of their schools and to alert the Department if there is a serious concern with a building. It has always been the case that where the Department is made aware a building may pose an immediate risk, immediate action is taken.

The Department has committed £1.8 billion of capital funding for the 2023/24 financial year to improve the condition of school buildings, as part of over £15 billion allocated since 2015. In addition, the Department will transform poor condition buildings at 500 schools and sixth form colleges over the coming decade through the School Rebuilding Programme, including Farringdon Community Academy in Houghton and Sunderland South.

Local Authorities, larger multi academy trusts and larger voluntary aided bodies are eligible to receive an annual School Condition Allocation (SCA) to prioritise on improving the condition of their schools. Smaller and stand-alone academy trusts, small voluntary aided school bodies and sixth form colleges are instead able to bid into the Condition Improvement Fund (CIF), an annual bidding round, to apply for funding for specific capital projects. More information can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/condition-improvement-fund.

Allocations to improve the condition of schools take into account consistent data from the Condition Data Collection (CDC1) to ensure funding is weighted to reflect the relative condition of school buildings. The Condition Data Collection 2 (CDC2) is collecting updated data on the condition of schools in England. Reports from the programmes are shared with schools and responsible bodies to help inform their plans, alongside their own condition surveys and checks.

Schools also receive funding to spend on their capital priorities or to contribute to larger projects through an annual Devolved Formula Capital allocation (DFC). Details of SCA and DFC allocations for the current financial year are available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/school-capital-funding#funding-allocations-for-the-2022-to-2023-financial-year. For previous years, they are available at: https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukgwa/*/https:/www.gov.uk/government/publications/capital-allocations.

For the 2023/24 financial year, Aldersley High School, Kenilworth School and Sixth Form, The St Lawrence’s Academy, Accrington St Christopher’s Church of England High School and Dormanstown Primary Academy were all eligible to bid into the Condition Improvement Fund. Applications to the CIF are robustly assessed against the published criteria, prioritising need, and feedback is provided on unsuccessful applications. All successful CIF bids are published here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/condition-improvement-fund.

Where the Department is alerted to significant safety issues with a building that cannot be managed with local resources, it provides additional support on a case-by-case basis. CIF eligible schools can apply for urgent capital support at any time in the year, if they have urgent building issues that need to be addressed.

The Department also provides extensive guidance for responsible bodies to help them manage their estates effectively through resources such as the Good Estate Management for Schools guidance.