Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much capital funding she plans to make available for schools in Devon in the 2026-27 financial year.

Ensuring schools have the resources and buildings they need is a key part of the government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity and give every child the best start in life.

Capital funding for the 2026/27 financial year to improve the condition of the estate will be set out following the next multi-year phase of the spending review.

In the 2025/26 budget, we increased capital funding to £2.1 billion to improve the condition of school buildings, up from £1.8 billion in the 2024/25 financial year. The majority of this funding is allocated to large responsible bodies such as local authorities, large multi-academy trusts and large voluntary-aided school bodies, who decide locally how to invest in their schools. Allocations and the methodology for the 2025/26 financial year are published in the ‘School capital funding’ guidance which can be accessed at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/school-capital-funding#funding-allocations-for-the-2025-to-2026-financial-year.

This is on top of the continuing School Rebuilding Programme, which includes nine schools in Devon.

In March 2025, the department announced that Devon County Council has also been allocated just over £15.7 million in capital funding to support it to create the mainstream school places needed by September 2028. £9.6 million of this will be paid in the 2026/27 financial year, with a further £6.1 million paid in 2027/28.