“The school and college estate has been terribly neglected over the last decade. Capital funding has been cut by 50% in real terms since 2010, there is still asbestos in the fabric of many schools, and RAAC did not start to be dealt with until the situation reached crisis point. At the very least, all pupils and staff should expect buildings that are safe and fit for purpose, but we know that 700,000 children in England are currently studying in schools requiring major rebuilding or refurbishment.
“The new government has clearly got a lot of work to do and this additional investment is very welcome. However, an additional £550 million is pretty modest when set against the £4.4 billion shortfall in the funding needed to maintain the school estate. The target of rebuilding 50 schools a year is also woefully unambitious, and buildings would need to last for 500 years at this rate. In reality, 38% of school buildings are already believed to be past their estimated initial design life.
“Today’s investment must just be the start of a plan to put the school and college estate on a more sustainable footing, and we need to see the next steps laid out in the Autumn Budget.”