Schools: Construction

(asked on 17th July 2020) - View Source

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether projects financed through the Government’s Priority Schools Building Programme can be constructed with the ability to lease areas of a new building to (a) local nurseries and (b) other local organisations.


Answered by
Nick Gibb Portrait
Nick Gibb
This question was answered on 27th July 2020

The Department is rebuilding or refurbishing school buildings required to deliver the school curriculum through the Priority School Building Programme. It would therefore not be possible for a school to have a building rebuilt or refurbished through this programme with the aim of it being leased to nurseries or other organisations. It is however possible for alternative funding to be provided from third parties so that additional accommodation is included in the scope of works, if this is agreed at the start of a project.

It is possible for all schools to lease areas of their facilities and schools may have informal or lease arrangements with third parties out of hours. Before granting any lease of public school land to a third party, a local authority, governing body, academy trust, or charitable landowning trust must comply with the legislative requirements to involve the Secretary of State. In most cases this requires an application for consent. The grant of a lease by an academy trust would also require the consent of the Secretary of State under the Academies Financial Handbook and the trust’s funding agreement.

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