Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to support schools to help tackle climate change.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The Education Estates Strategy sets out plans for an education estate that supports opportunity for all, with an education estate that is safe, suitable, sustainable and appropriately sufficiently sized. It is backed by a ten-year plan to deliver a decade of renewal to transform schools and colleges.
The department expects all settings to have a climate action plan to ensure that the education estate becomes more climate resilient.
We will support all settings to develop climate action plans and appoint a sustainability lead through the Sustainability Support Programme until at least 2030. More than 10,000 education settings are already accessing this free support.
The Sustainability Support for Education online service signposts settings to relevant actions and trusted guidance and tools.
Climate Ambassadors, working with Ashden’s ‘Let’s Go Zero’ campaign, provide on the ground support and facilitate peer learning.
All settings have the flexibility to develop a plan that reflects their specific context, priorities and needs.
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has considered the potential merits of using timber materials in a) constructing and b) maintaining school buildings.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government recognises that timber offers a solution as a renewable, low-carbon resource. It offers potential to reduce emissions and create jobs, as set out in the Timber in Construction Roadmap: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/timber-in-construction-roadmap-2025/timber-in-construction-roadmap-2025.
The department has piloted a number of projects which explore the use of timber in school construction, including three prototypes using UK timber.
Our construction specification requires that new buildings meet an embodied carbon requirement, and that designs use natural materials to create a healthy learning environment. These specifications encourage the use of timber and other natural materials to meet the needs of our low carbon future.
Timber is a commonly used material in maintaining school buildings. School responsible bodies must ensure that the correct materials are used for any works to maintain fire, safety and other critical requirements.