Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the longest period of time was that a school was closed due to serious structural issues in England since 2010.

Responsibility for ensuring the safety and condition of school buildings lies with the responsible bodies, such as Local Authorities, trusts, and voluntary aided bodies.

The Department provides support to schools and responsible bodies, and has allocated over £13 billion since 2015 for keeping schools safe and operational, including £1.8 billion committed this financial year, informed by consistent data on the school estate. In addition, the Department’s School Rebuilding Programme will transform 500 schools over the next decade, prioritising schools in poor condition.

Where the Department is notified of a significant safety issue with a school building, that cannot be managed within local resources, the Department considers additional support on a case by case basis.

Responsible bodies are not obliged to report building-related school closures to the Department. Therefore, the Department does not routinely collect or hold complete data of the information requested.

As the Department is not the responsible body for the management of the estate or the direct employer of staff, the Department does not routinely hold information on any sickness, absences, or compensation paid in relation to structural issues.