Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what guidance he is providing to schools on planning for increases in gas and electricity costs between April 2022 and March 2023; and what estimate he has made of the potential increase in those costs schools.

The department recognises that schools will be facing cost pressures in the coming months due to the increase in energy prices. The department is looking carefully at how cost increases will impact schools and we are considering what additional support the department could offer.

The department knows that the vast majority of school expenditure is devoted to staff costs. This means that, even while energy costs are rising, inflation in this area would have an impact on a small portion of a school’s budget overall. The department pays close attention to the financial health of the sector, and we are closely assessing where energy costs may more significantly impact schools’ financial health.

The energy market remains volatile and whilst prices have reduced recently, they remain high against long-term prices. Individual schools’ situations will vary significantly, depending on their energy contract length, if the energy rate is fixed for the life of the contract or variable during the contract, when the contract is due for renewal, and who the suppliers are.

Frameworks approved by the department are available to all state-funded schools to provide renewal quotes, where required. The guidance to finding a suitable framework is available here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/find-a-dfe-approved-framework-for-your-school. Alternative providers are also available, including from other public sector buying organisations. It remains the responsibility of individual schools and trusts to decide who their energy suppliers should be.

The department continues to recommend that schools do not allow their existing contracts to expire before contacting their current supplier to discuss a contract extension. This is because buying energy out of contract is more expensive than buying at the market rate. Any changes to an existing energy contract require careful consideration of the terms and conditions and the costs and risks associated with changing supplier. Current energy market prices are likely to be significantly higher than any existing agreement.

The ‘get help buying for schools’ procurement team is available to provide schools with free advice and guidance to all state-funded schools on their energy contracts. This service can be found here: https://www.get-help-buying-for-schools.service.gov.uk/procurement-support?referred_by=aHR0cDovL2ZpbmQtZGZlLWFwcHJvdmVkLWZyYW1ld29yay5zZXJ2aWNlLmdvdi51ay9zZWxlY3Rpb24=/.