Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, for what reason there was a £0.4 billion decrease in Education Capital DEL spending plans for financial year 2022-23 in the Spring Budget 2023 when compared to the figures in the 2022 Autumn Statement.

The Government’s spending on the education estate is unchanged after the Spring Budget, presented to Parliament on 15 March 2023.

The change in budgetary control totals between the 2022 Autumn Statement and the 2023 Spring Budget, is a technical adjustment which reflects forecasts for how the academies sector will spend grants given by the Government, but it does not change the amount made available to the sector.

Academies have some autonomy to decide how and when to spend funding allocated to them. The lower spend in the 2022/23 financial year is due to academies planning more substantial long term works which cross financial years.