Committees

The condition of school buildings

Inquiry

In March 2022 the Public Accounts Committee reported on the risks to schools’ financial sustainability, including wide variations in the condition of individual schools and their funding.

The school estate in England comprises some 22,000 schools, with the majority overseen by the responsible body in control of the school, usually the relevant local authority or academy trust. The Department for Education (DfE) provides capital funding of around £5 billion each year and works with responsible bodies to help maintain and improve the condition of school buildings.

Based on a National Audit Office investigation into the condition of school buildings in England the Committee will question senior officials at the Department for Education on whether:

- they have a good understanding of the condition of school buildings;

- they have appropriate arrangements in place to allocate funding for school buildings in line with need; and

- whether they can give assurance that funding for school buildings is being used efficiently and effectively.

If you have evidence on these issues please submit it here by 23:59 on Thursday 6 July.

Please look at the requirements for written evidence submissions and note that the Committee cannot accept material as evidence that is published elsewhere. 

This inquiry is no longer accepting evidence

The deadline for submissions was 11:59pm on 6 July 2023.

Upcoming events

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No upcoming events scheduled

Past events

Monday 11 September 2023
3:00pm Private
4:15pm Public
Oral evidence session 11 September 2023
The condition of school buildings - Oral evidence
3:15pm
  • Susan Acland-Hood (Permanent Secretary at Department for Education)
  • Jane Cunliffe (Chief Operating Officer, Operations and Infrastructure Group at Department for Education)
The Government’s resources and waste reforms for England - Oral evidence
4:15pm
  • Tamara Finkelstein CB (Permanent Secretary at Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
  • Sarah Homer (Director General, Portfolio Delivery at Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
  • Emma Bourne OBE (Director, Resources and Waste at Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Room 15, Palace of Westminster
Thursday 13 July 2023
9:30am Private
10:00am Public
The condition of school buildings - Oral evidence 13 July 2023
10:00am
  • Susan Acland-Hood (Permanent Secretary at Department for Education)
  • Jane Cunliffe (Chief Operating Officer at Department for Education)
  • Jane Balderstone (Capital Delivery at Department for Education)
Room 8, Palace of Westminster

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