7hhXQE2x
type: Answer
type: WrittenAnswer
answer has question: jolZ30Ca
answer has answering person: r0QLf2Xa
answer text: It is the responsibility of those who run schools - academy trusts, Local Authorities and voluntary aided school bodies - to manage the safety and maintenance of their schools and to alert the Department if there is a serious concern with a building. It has always been the case that where the Department is made aware of a building that may pose an immediate risk, immediate action is taken. The Department has committed £1.8 billion of capital funding for the 2023/24 financial year to improve the condition of school buildings, as part of over £15 billion allocated since 2015. In addition, the Department will transform poor condition buildings at 500 schools and sixth form colleges over the coming decade through the School Rebuilding Programme. A list of all schools selected for the programme is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-rebuilding-programme-schools-in-the-programme. It is important to note that it was only since 2010, and the subsequent introduction of the Priority School Rebuilding Programme, and its successors, that building condition was made the driver for schools to be chosen for rebuilding. Previous programmes, such as the Building Schools for the Future (BSF), prioritised rebuilding for non-condition related reasons. Furthermore, the inclusion of a school within BSF did not mean it necessarily addressed the presence of RAAC. Several schools now confirmed as containing RAAC through the Department’s questionnaire and surveying programme were refurbished under BSF. Local Authorities, larger multi academy trusts and larger voluntary aided bodies are eligible to receive an annual School Condition Allocation (SCA). It is for these responsible bodies to prioritise SCA across their schools based on local knowledge of the condition of their buildings. Smaller and stand alone academy trusts, small voluntary aided school bodies and sixth-form colleges are instead able to bid into the Condition Improvement Fund (CIF), an annual bidding…
answer given date: 2023-10-23+01:00
answer has answering body: 7dSvuueH
written answer has answering body: 7dSvuueH