Schools: Mould

(asked on 9th June 2025) - View Source

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she has taken with (a) headteachers, (b) local authorities to reduce (a) mould and (b) damp in educational buildings.


Answered by
Stephen Morgan Portrait
Stephen Morgan
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
This question was answered on 23rd June 2025

The department takes the safety of children and those who work with them incredibly seriously.

The department supports responsible bodies, such as local authorities, academy trusts and voluntary-aided bodies and their schools to meet their responsibilities to keep buildings safe and well-maintained, including addressing mould and damp.

We do this through providing capital funding, rebuilding programmes and extensive guidance on estate management.

We have increased capital funding to improve the condition of school buildings to £2.1 billion for the 2025/26 financial year, which is almost £300 million more than last year. This is in addition to the continuing School Rebuilding Programme.

The department has also published Good Estate Management for schools, a guide and toolkit to support responsible bodies and their schools to manage their estates strategically, so that pupils can learn in a safe, effective environment.

Responsible bodies should monitor any instances of persistent damp and seek professional advice, as water ingress may be an indicator of a problem with the fabric of the building.

Reticulating Splines