The £1 billion school buildings fund announced by the government today will need to be spread over “a number of years” rather than added to next year’s budget in its entirety, it has emerged.
Announcing the investment today, the government said it would fund a 10-year rebuilding programme to “start in 2020-21 with the first 50 projects, supported by over £1 billion in funding”.
An education economist has calculated that adding the £1 billion to next year’s capital funding budget would still leave schools’ capital funding “well below” 2010 levels.
But the Department for Education has now clarified to Tes that the money announced today will be spread over several years.
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A spokesperson said: “We will start with 50 schools in the most need of repair, supported by over £1 billion in capital funding, which will be invested in these projects over a number of years, with construction on the first projects expected to start in autumn 2021.”
The full details of these projects will be confirmed in the autumn, and further funding will be set out at the next spending review.
As well as the £1bn, there will be £560 million for repairs and upgrades in schools on top of £1.4 billion already committed in 2020-21, the spokesperson added.
