Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many schools in England are taking steps to insulate their buildings to meet local and national carbon reduction targets.

The Government is committed to achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. The Department encourages schools to limit their impact on the environment by taking a range of actions including minimising heat loss through improved insulation. The Department has a programme of capital investment in schools and will have spent £22 billion on new and improved school buildings between 2017 and 2021.

The Schools Buying Strategy was created to help schools with procurement to help ensure they get the best value for money. There are a wide range of recommended frameworks and support which can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/buying-for-schools. Advice on good estate management, including the Salix loan scheme can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/good-estate-management-for-schools/information-training-and-tools.

Salix Finance Ltd. was established in 2004 as an independent, publicly funded company through which interest-free government funding from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, the Department for Education, the Welsh Government and the Scottish Government provides the public sector with loans for projects to improve energy, reduce bills and reduce carbon emissions. Schools can access Salix funding through three routes:

1) the Salix Energy Efficiency Loan Scheme for maintained schools.[1]

2) Salix Energy Efficiency Fund for academies administered directly by Salix.[2]

3) through the DfE’s Condition Improvement Fund.[3]

[1] For maintained schools, information is available on gov.uk and promoted by the department at schools’ events and shows.

[2] The department promotes the Salix Energy Efficiency Fund on gov.uk and will notify academies via an email bulletin.

[3] For academies that are eligible to apply to the Condition Improvement Fund (CIF), the department alerts them by direct email and also publishes information on Salix in the CIF applicant guidance which we have promoted on gov.uk at:

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/condition-improvement-fund.