Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential benefits of increasing funding for outdoor play and learning opportunities in schools in Surrey Heath constituency.

Each year, schools receive core funding from the department to cover their expenditures. The funding schools receive is not ringfenced for any specific form of expenditure, and it is for each school to determine how this money will be best used to support their individual circumstances. That includes expenditures on outdoor play and learning opportunities.

Through the schools block of the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG), Surrey local authority, which allocates funding for Surrey Heath, is receiving £6,361 per pupil on average in the 2026/27 financial year (including premises funding but excluding growth funding). That is a 2.5% increase in funding per pupil compared to the 2025/26 financial year.