Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much funding has been allocated by his Department to schools in York to improve their energy efficiency in each of the last five years.

The department supports sustainability through our capital funding and programmes, both to reduce carbon emissions and save schools money. Responsible bodies, such as local authorities, academy trusts and dioceses can use their capital funding allocations to invest in improving energy efficiency in schools.

Since 2015, the department has allocated £11.3 billion to maintain and improve school buildings, including improving energy efficiency. This includes £1.8 billion for the financial year 2021/22.

Local authorities receive an annual School Condition Allocation (SCA) to invest in capital maintenance and upgrades across the schools for which they are responsible. All schools also receive funding to spend on their capital priorities through an annual Devolved Formula Capital (DFC) allocation.

The SCA and DFC allocated to City of York Council in previous financial years is set out in the table below. The SCA total in 2020/21 includes an extra £377,261 from the additional £560 million announced that year for essential maintenance and upgrades. The DFC total in 2018/19 includes an extra £454,917 from the additional £400 million announced in that year. Large multi-academy trusts and voluntary-aided (VA) school bodies (such as dioceses) also receive SCA. These allocations typically cover schools across multiple local authority boundaries so are not included below. All SCA funding is published on GOV.UK.

Smaller multi-academy or stand-alone trusts, other voluntary-aided schools and sixth form colleges are able to bid to the Condition Improvement Fund (CIF) each year. The department welcomes CIF applications from eligible schools for energy efficiency projects, but only where the project addresses an existing priority condition need.

Funding allocated to schools in York through CIF in the past five years is set out in the table below. The department defined energy efficiency projects as those that have a significantly positive impact on energy efficiency, such as improvements to heating systems and repairs or replacements of windows and roofs, and where improvements in energy efficiency were set out in the CIF application.

The department also invests in centrally delivered programmes. There has been a total of three schools in the York local authority area that have benefited from the Priority School Building Programme, with a total investment of over £9 million. New school buildings are easy to operate and reduce operational energy use. Additionally, Hempland Primary School in York will be part of the new School Rebuilding Programme (SRP). New school buildings delivered under the SRP will be modern, energy-efficient buildings that are net zero carbon in operation, helping to meet the government’s net zero target to tackle climate change.

In addition, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy set up the £1 billion Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme (PSDS) in 2020 which provided grants for eligible public sector bodies, including schools, to fund energy efficiency and heat decarbonisation measures across their estate. Phase three of the PSDS will be open for applications from 6 October.

Alongside this substantial investment in the school estate, the department has provided schools and responsible bodies with guidance on energy efficiency such as minimising energy, water, and waste within our Good Estate Management for Schools manual.