Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of enabling voluntary controlled schools to apply for urgent capital support funding.

The department is investing almost £3 billion per year by 2034/35 in capital maintenance and renewal to improve the condition of the school and college estate, rising from £2.4 billion in 2025/26.

The majority of capital funding for improving the school estate is provided through annual School Condition Allocations for large responsible bodies, such as local authorities, large multi-academy trusts and large voluntary aided school bodies, to decide how to invest based on local knowledge of need. Small or stand-alone academy trusts and sixth form colleges instead bid for funding through the Condition Improvement Fund. The amount of funding available through each route is calculated using the same funding methodology.

In 2025/26, Norfolk Council were allocated almost £5.5 million to invest across its maintained schools, including voluntary controlled schools in South Norfolk constituency.

In addition, the government is investing almost £20 billion in the School Rebuilding Programme from 2025/26 through to 2034/35, delivering rebuilding projects at over 500 schools across England within the existing programme and expanding with a further 250 schools to be selected within two years.

The department provides additional advice and support on a case-by-case basis, where there are urgent safety issues with a building that cannot be managed independently by bodies responsible for school buildings.