Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will meet with the Rt. hon. Member for Denton and Reddish to discuss building conditions at Russell Scott Primary School.

The Department is aware of the condition of Russell Scott Primary School. Departmental officials have been engaging with Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council to understand the Council’s capital maintenance programme for the school and advise on these issues. My Noble Friend, the Minister for the School System, also met with the hon. Member to discuss the school in June.

The Department provides local authorities with an annual School Condition Allocation (SCA) to invest in priorities across their maintained schools. The Department looks to local authorities to allocate these funds to what they identify to be the most urgent priorities across the school estate, ensuring schools are kept safe and operational.

For the 2022/23 financial year, Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council has been allocated £1,545,072 in SCA funding. In addition to annual condition funding, the Department has also launched a ten-year School Rebuilding Programme. The Department has announced the first 100 schools that will benefit from the programme as part of a commitment to 500 projects over the next decade. Russell Scott Primary School has been nominated for the School Rebuilding Programme under the exceptional route. Assessment is ongoing and further information will be available in due course.