Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much her Department made available to Solihull Council through the School Condition Allocation.

Well maintained, safe school buildings are a priority for the Department to support a high quality education for all pupils. The Department has allocated over £15 billion since 2015 to keep schools safe and operational, including £1.8 billion in 2023/24. This is informed by consistent data on the condition of the school estate. In addition, the School Rebuilding Programme will transform buildings at 500 schools over the next decade, prioritising schools in poor condition with evidence of potential safety issues. The Department has announced 400 schools to date, which includes 239 in December 2022, including Our Lady of Compassion Catholic Primary School in Solihull constituency.

Solihull Local Authority has been allocated a school condition allocation of £1,830,437 for the 2023/24 financial year to use in maintaining and improving the condition of its school buildings. Large multi academy trusts and voluntary aided school groups with schools in Solihull will also have been allocated a school condition allocation to spend on their school buildings. Smaller and single academy trusts were invited to bid into the condition improvement fund, with outcomes now published on GOV.UK.

Schools maintained by Solihull Local Authority have also been allocated £278,268 in devolved formula capital to spend on their own capital priorities, whilst schools in the Local Authority across all types of responsible bodies have been allocated £989,127.