Capital funding that had been approved by the government for repair and building work is now being terminated for some schools after “serious irregularities” were identified in their bids, the Department for Education has said.
Condition Improvement Fund (CIF) money is being pulled from “a number of projects” that had initially been successful in their bids, Tes can reveal.
The DfE announced earlier this year that CIF funding for several successful projects was being put on hold while a “due diligence process” was carried out.
“Following detailed investigations, we have taken immediate action to terminate funding to a number of projects in the Condition Improvement Fund where serious irregularities had been identified within their applications,” a DfE spokesperson said.
Tes has asked the DfE how many projects are affected but has not received an answer.
“We have strengthened our guidance to further protect schools and taxpayer funding from such risk and this government is committed to reviewing the system going forward,” the spokesperson added.
Many schools and trusts use external parties to help them complete CIF bids.
Support for schools
Julia Harnden, funding specialist at the Association of School and College Leaders, said the union is concerned some affected schools and trusts will have spent money on their projects before being told their funding has been withdrawn.
“Our understanding is that none of the responsible bodies involved in this situation are considered to be in any way at fault, and therefore we believe they should be compensated for any costs incurred,” Ms Harnden added.
“We remain in conversation with the DfE about how schools and colleges in this difficult and unusual position can be supported.”
Schools that have had funding withdrawn can apply for Urgent Capital Support if they meet the criteria, the DfE said.
Tes understands that the DfE is withholding funding under a clause in the CIF funding grant terms and conditions that states the funding agreement “may be terminated by either party giving at least one months’ notice in writing”.
The 2025-26 round of CIF will open soon. The guidance includes a new declaration that the accounting officer or a member of the senior management team must sign along with the application.
“This is to acknowledge their responsibility for the application, the management of any successful project, and meeting the requirements of the post approval guidance and complying with the terms and conditions,” the guidance states.
A small multi-academy trust (MAT) in the South East of England had eight CIF bids approved in March this year.
Two months later, the schools were told these bids, which had been put together by a third party, were on hold.
‘CIF is always a bit of a lottery’
The trust CEO, who has asked to remain anonymous, told Tes three of the bids have now been approved, while five have been rejected - though the MAT has received no feedback from the DfE on why some were reinstated.
They said: “We went through a long process with the DfE in relation to the appointment of our external support and the bid process for the works. We provided plenty of evidence everything was carried out correctly.
“I can live with losing the five bids as CIF is always a bit of a lottery. The frustrating thing is the three successful ones - we could have started work at the end of summer but now we won’t be able to do anything until next year.”
CIF is a pot of money for capital works that smaller MATs, voluntary aided bodies and colleges are able to bid for.
The DfE publishes a list of successful projects each year. Projects approved range from urgent roof repairs and electricity works to asbestos removal and boiler replacement.
The number of projects approved for funding has been falling year-on-year, which consultants have called “devastating”.
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