Responding to the new National Audit Office report on the
condition of school buildings and environmental sustainability of
the school estate, Paul Whiteman, general secretary at school
leaders’ union NAHT, said:
“These shocking figures lay bare how far short the government is
falling in its efforts to ensure school buildings are safe and
fit for purpose for children and staff.
“Safety should be a given, but the Department for Education is
failing to meet even its own inadequate targets for investment to
mitigate the most serious risks, let alone ensure schools are in
a reasonable state of repair, with sustainable carbon-zero
buildings.
“The government has slashed funding to replace ageing school
buildings and for maintenance and repairs over the last decade.
At the current rate of progress, to replace or rebuild all
schools would take more than 400 years.
“We urgently need the government to come up with proper plans,
backed by major new investment, to address these safety concerns
while also seizing the opportunity to retrofit and decarbonise
the school estate.”
NB: The Department for Education upgraded the risk of a buildings
which are approaching the end of their life expectancy collapsing
to ‘critical’ and ‘very likely’ in 2021. This followed a big
survey of all school buildings it organised between 2017 and
2019.
Research by the House of Commons Library calculates that between
2009-10 and 2021-22, overall capital spending declined by around
37% in cash terms and 50% in real terms.
Just 50 schools a year now benefit from the national School
Rebuilding Programme – and at this rate it would take more than
400 years to replace or rebuild all schools.
