Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to item 3 in table 2.1 of the Spring Budget 2017, how the school capital funding will be allocated.

The Department for Education will invest over £24 billion on school buildings between 2016-17 and 2020-21 financial years, which includes funding for new school places, including the free schools programme, and funding to maintain and improve the condition of the school estate, including the Priority School Building Programme. The Department confirms annual funding allocations for specific programmes in the spring for the financial year ahead, based on the latest forecasts of programme delivery.

The Department’s Supplementary Estimate Memorandum for 2016-17 financial year sets the budget for the Priority School Building Programme as £1,030 million and that for Free Schools, University Technical Colleges and Studio Schools as £1,116 million. Spending plans for 2017-18 will be published alongside the forthcoming 2017-18 Main Estimate. The Memorandum is available here:

https://www.parliament.uk/documents/commons-committees/Education/Department-for-Education-Supplementary-Estimate-2016-17-Memorandum.pdf

Detailed spending plans for future financial years will be set out in future Main and Supplementary Estimates. This will include the Department’s plans for the £216 million funding for school maintenance referred to in table 2.1 of the Spring Budget 2017.[1]

[1] The £230 million referred to in item 3 of the table includes Barnett consequentials.