Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education pursuant to the Answer of 21 March 2023 to Question 163895 on Schools: Buildings, how many school buildings with significant safety issues that could not be managed with local resources were provided with additional support in the last five years.

Where the Department is alerted to significant safety issues with a building that cannot be managed with local resources, additional support is provided on a case by case basis. In the last five years, the Department has provided financial support to 104 schools where the urgent building issue cannot be managed locally and threatens school closure. Support was provided for a range of issues, including structural concerns and general condition issues, such as roofing and boiler failures.

Responsible bodies can contact the Department to seek support on an array of capital issues to ascertain what support, including funding, might be available to them. This does not necessarily mean that the responsible body is not able to resolve the issue independently but may be seeking financial support through existing capital programmes or other advice and guidance to support their plans.