Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the policy papers entitled Spending Review 2025, published on 30 June 2025, and Budget 2025, published on 28 November 2025, what their Department’s capital Departmental Expenditure Limit (DEL) will be in each year of the Spending Review period; how much capital funding has been allocated to each of their Department’s programmes; and how much and what proportion of the capital DEL allocation remains unallocated in each year.

The Budget 2025 confirmed capital Departmental Expenditure Limit (DEL) plans for 2025/26 to 2029/30; £6.8 billion in 2025/26, £8.3 billion in 2026/27, and £7.7 billion in 2027/28 to 2029/30.

A proportion is allocated to improving condition of the school and college estate by increasing the annual capital maintenance investment in line with inflation, rising to around £2.6 billion in 2029/30. The settlement also commits around £2.4 billion capital funding per annum over the next four years to continue the School Rebuilding Programme of over 500 schools.

We have committed over £560 million to reform the children’s social care system and support the refurbishment and expansion of children’s homes and foster care placements, and around £370 million for school-based nurseries.

Yearly allocation will be determined through the department’s internal processes to balance these commitments with operational needs. This will be presented to parliament and published annually at Mains Estimates. All capital DEL allocations are fully allocated towards departmental capital priorities.