Schools could have an extra £36,000 each on average to spend on
crumbling buildings if the Department for Education reallocated
last year's unspent capital budget, according to new analysis by
the School Cuts coalition.
Despite Government spending on school infrastructure having
plummeted since the Conservatives came to power in 2010, the DfE
still underspent its own capital expenditure limit by over £1bn
in 2022-23 and another £900m in 2021-22.
If the 2022-23 underspend alone were redistributed to schools to
spend on their own capital projects via the Devolved Formula
Capital (DFC) route, it would mean an extra:
- £36,410 for the average state-funded school in England
- £27,119 for the average state-funded primary school in
England
- £81,328 for the average state-funded secondary school in
England.
This funding was always earmarked for desperately-needed building
and maintenance work across the education system. In 2022, the
Treasury gave the DfE a Capital Departmental Expenditure Limit
(DEL) of £6,365m for 2022-23. Despite the National Audit Office
and others reporting the desperate state of disrepair in our
schools, the DfE only spent £5,348m in 2022-23, leaving £1,017m
unspent.
This sum, like the £898m unspent the year before, was set aside
for capital projects in education, and School Cuts argue that it
should be kept for this purpose rather than returned to the
Treasury. The DFC scheme already provides schools with sums of
money to spend on their own capital works, and School Cuts
believes it would be much fairer to redistribute the much-needed
funds via this channel than for it to be lost back to the
Treasury.
The School Cuts website is run by education unions National
Education Union, Association of School and College Leaders
and school leaders' union NAHT, supported by Parentkind and
National Governance Association.
Daniel Kebede, NEU General Secretary, said:
“School buildings are crumbling around our children as they try
to learn. Yet even the inadequate amounts of money set aside for
their repair are being returned to the Treasury unspent. If
bureaucracy and mismanagement mean that the DfE is not allocating
this money where it is so desperately needed, the only sensible
option is to give it directly to schools. They are best placed to
know where it needs to be spent. Redistributing this money would
make a tremendous difference at a local level, in a way that is
tangible to pupils, school staff and communities.”
Paul Whiteman, NAHT General Secretary, said:
“Everyone – including government ministers at the Department for
Education – know that far too many school buildings are simply
not up to scratch, and in urgent need of investment. Parents,
leaders, and teachers will be baffled by the Department's
inability to spend in full even the limited schools capital
budget allocated to them by Treasury, at a time when schools are
so clearly in desperate need of funds to carry out essential
repairs and maintenance. This nonsensical decision will leave
children learning in crumbling classrooms with damp, mould, and
broken boilers.”
Pepe Di'Iasio, ASCL General Secretary, said:
“It beggars belief that not only is the amount of money allocated
for the upkeep of school buildings completely inadequate, but the
Department for Education cannot even manage to distribute the
money that is available. Public funding is intended for the
public benefit, not some sort of pass the parcel exercise between
government departments. The next government must make sure that
funding is both adequate and delivered to the frontline.”
Editor's notes
- Overall spending on the school estate fell by around
two-thirds in real-terms between 2009-10 and 2023-24.
- Devolved Formula Capital (DFC) was worth £1.363m in 2009-10
and £573m in 2010-11, but has since dropped to around £200m a
year (cash, not adjusted for inflation).
- The DFC scheme allocates money to state schools in England
directly, to spend on their own capital projects. In 2023-24, DFC
funding rates were £4,000 per institution and £11.25 per weighted
pupil, with an additional 8% for voluntary aided (VA) schools due
to VAT rules.
Sources:
HMT Public Expenditure Statistical Analyses (PESA), 1 May
2024,https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/public-expenditure-statistical-analyses-pesa
DfE, School capital funding allocations for 2023 to 2024, 22 May
2024,https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/65f80744811225e267579f57/School_capital_funding_allocations_for_2023_to_2024.xlsx
National Audit Office, Capital funding for schools, 22
February 2017, https://www.nao.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Capital-funding-for-schools.pdf
National Audit Office, Condition of school buildings, 28
June 2023, https://www.nao.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/condition-of-school-buildings.pdf
Department for Education, School capital funding, 11 May 2023,
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/school-capital-funding
The School Cuts website was established in 2016. The website
shows the impact of Government funding decisions on schools in
England, including mainstream, special schools and maintained
nursery schools.
