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<p>It is the responsibility of those who run education settings to manage the safety and maintenance of their estate 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 school building that may pose an immediate risk, immediate action is taken.</p><p>The Department will spend what it takes to keep children and young people safe. The Department will fund emergency mitigation work needed to make buildings safe, including installing alternative classroom space where necessary. Where schools and colleges need additional help with revenue costs, the Department expects all reasonable requests will be approved. The Department will then also fund refurbishment projects, or rebuilding projects, to rectify the RAAC issue for the long term. The Department will set out further details for affected schools and colleges in due course. The higher education (HE) sector is independent from Government and it is therefore for individual providers to determine and address any estate issues.</p><p>The Department will work with the relevant responsible body, which will depend on the type of school or college with confirmed RAAC. Every case will be different, and the Department is working closely with affected settings to understand and support their needs, including with capital funding.</p><p>Our immediate support for schools and colleges will be managed from unallocated departmental budgets. This will not have an impact on existing programmes. The Department will provide further information about funding at relevant points in due course.</p><p>The 2021 Spending Review announced a total of £19 billion of capital funding to support the education sector. As part of this, the Department’s capital budget is £7 billion in 2023/24. The Department has announced £1.8 billion in both 2022/23 and 2023/24 to improve the condition of the school estate, and is transforming schools across the country through our School Rebuilding Programme. Over £2.8 billion in capital funding is being invested in skills over this spending review period.</p><p>The Department reviews how it allocates its capital budget on an ongoing basis and will reflect on current and future funding requirement as part of our preparations for the next Spending Review. Ministers and officials have regular discussions with colleagues from HM Treasury and other Government Departments on a range of issues.</p><p>The Department will always put the safety and wellbeing of children and staff in education settings at the heart of its policy decisions.</p> |