Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much funding his Department has provided to schools to improve classroom ventilation since January 2021.

The Department has not provided specific additional funding for schools to improve classroom ventilation since January 2021.

The Department provided additional funding to schools, on top of existing budgets, to cover unavoidable costs incurred between March and July 2020 due to the COVID-19 outbreak that could not be met from their budgets. This funding was targeted towards the costs that we identified as the biggest barrier to schools operating as they needed to. It covered claims for the premises costs of staying open over Easter and summer half term holidays, support for free school meals, and additional cleaning costs.

Schools have continued to receive their core funding throughout the COVID-19 outbreak, regardless of any periods of full or partial closure. This financial year marks the second year of the Department’s investment of £14.4 billion in total over the three years to 2022/23, compared to 2019/20. This is the biggest increase in a decade.