Although overall funding for education has increased under the Conservatives, money available for school repair and maintenance has fallen by £2.2 billion (28%) since 2010.
by Ben van der Merwe, Julie Santa Cruz and Amrit Singh Mann, data journalists
Tuesday 5 September 2023 at 17:49, United Kingdom
The amount of money available to schools to repair and maintain their buildings has fallen by more than a quarter since 2010 (28%), a real reduction of £2.2 billion per year.
Since the Conservatives formed a majority government in 2015, the Department for Education’s capital budget has averaged £5.6bn a year – compared to £7.8bn a year in the last four years under Labour.
This is money set aside for things like construction, maintenance, and repairs.
More than 100 schools and colleges have been asked to close buildings, partially or completely, due to concerns about the safety of reinforced aerated concrete (RAAC) used in their construction.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak dismissed suggestions he was to blame for cuts to school repair and maintenance budgets, saying it was “Totally wrong” To suggest that he takes responsibility for the failure to fully fund the program to rebuild dilapidated schools in England.
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Funding for school repair and maintenance has fallen significantly since 2010, when Conservative Education Secretary Michael Gove scrapped Labour’s Building Schools for the Future programme.
Since then, capital spending has remained well below the levels seen by Labour, falling to just £5bn during the pandemic before rising to £5.3bn last year.
However, the Department’s overall budget has grown significantly, from an average of £72 billion a year during Labour’s last four years in office to £87 billion under the Conservatives, a real increase of 23%.
This increase went entirely to the department’s daily expenditure fund and its resources budget, which received an increase of £18 billion. Meanwhile, the capital budget has been reduced by £2.2 billion.
As a result, many schools that need funding for repairs and maintenance have tapped their resource budgets, which are used to pay salaries and energy bills, to fund capital projects.
A June report by the National Audit Office found that in 2021-22, 71% of academy trusts used resource funding for capital projects, shifting a total of £518 million in day-to-day running costs – despite increasing pressures on teacher salaries and rising bills. energy.
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“The government’s analysis shows that the state of repair is very poor in the school building – including roofing and concrete, but also including gas and electricity,” says Luke Sibieta, a research fellow at the Institute for Fiscal Studies.
“These types of issues can become pressing, so it is not at all surprising to see schools attacking their day-to-day budgets to spend on capital budgets – those capital expenditures can be pressing.”
The electrical and plumbing systems in schools are also in urgent need of repair
The report from the National Audit Office, based on data from 2020, found that schools required repairs worth £8.5bn for issues “fundamental so that the building remains usable and safe”, as well as £425m for things that “could cause significant problems”. . .
Among the most serious items were repairs needed for electrical services in schools worth £2.5 billion, and £2.1 billion for mechanical services such as plumbing.
Within the capital budget, funds for maintenance and repairs have also decreased significantly in recent years.
The Department for Education spent £5 billion on maintenance and repairs in the past two years to March. Inflation in the construction sector represents a 20% decline compared to the two years to March 2017.
“It is not surprising that we are witnessing a crisis in school repair and maintenance,” says Mr. Sibieta.
“The government has been underinvesting in school repair and maintenance for about 10 to 15 years. The amount of spending is less than what the government itself thinks it needs.
“As part of the 2020 Spending Review, the Department for Education believed we needed around £5.3 billion a year just to repair and maintain existing school properties. In the end, the Treasury allocated around £3 billion a year.”
Sarah Skinner, chief executive of the Penrose Learning Trust, has had to close 12 classrooms at East Bergholt High School in Surrey due to the presence of the RAAC.
She has been given six temporary replacements, but has not been told when they will be available.
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“Once we get the porta cabin, we will get the kids back, but they won’t have specialized resources,” she says.
“We believe it will take months before we can carry out remedial work – at a huge cost. Therefore, I am concerned about children returning to classrooms before Christmas.”
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