School leaders in England are concerned that the government is cutting back on school building refurbishment and repairs despite the Department for Education’s recent disclosure that there was a “critical – very likely” risk of buildings collapsing.
The NASUWT union said the budget this week had cut the DfE’s capital expenditure limits by £400m, from £6.3bn allocated in last November’s autumn statement to £5.9bn.
There is longstanding concern over the safety of England’s school estate, with buildings from the 1960s and 1970s nearing the end of their structural life and many riddled with asbestos and other dangerous materials.
Patrick Roach, the NASUWT’s general secretary, said: “Now is the time for greater investment in school buildings, not less, with the warnings that some school buildings are at risk of collapse. Schools are already reporting increased revenue pressures as they have less available to spend on repair and upkeep of buildings.”
Julie McCulloch, the director of policy at the Association of School and College Leaders, said the budget reduction appeared to be the result of planned expenditure not being carried out, and needed an explanation from the DfE.
“It is of vital importance that everything possible is done to improve the condition of the school estate given that the department’s own assessment is that there is an £11.4bn backlog of repairs and remedial work required, and that some school buildings are in danger of collapse,” McCulloch said. “It is a shameful state of affairs and the government has failed to put anything like enough investment into the school estate.”
A DfE spokesperson said the government’s investment in the school estate was unchanged after Wednesday’s budget, and that the NASUWT’s analysis was incorrect.
“The change in budgetary control totals between the autumn statement and Wednesday’s budget document is a technical adjustment which reflects forecasts for how the academies sector is spending the grants given by government – but does not change the amount made available to the sector,” the spokesperson said.
Research published by the House of Commons library found that between 2009-10 and 2021-22, overall capital spending on England’s state school estate fell by about 50% in real terms.
The DfE recently confirmed that at least 39 state schools had been forced to close partly or entirely in the last three years because one or more buildings had been deemed unsafe.
In January this year, a woman was seriously injured by a falling piece of cladding while waiting to collect her children at a primary school in Sheffield.
Freedom of information requests by ITV News have discovered that at least 68 schools have buildings that were constructed using a type of reinforced concrete now regarded as liable to collapse without warning.
The problem could be more widespread, with the investigation finding that almost 1,500 schools built between the 1960s and the 1980s – when the reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete was commonly used – had not been checked to see if they were constructed using the dangerous material.
In 2018, a ceiling built using the same type of reinforced concrete collapsed at a primary school in Kent. The collapse happened on a weekend, when the school was empty, averting any injuries.
Munira Wilson, the Liberal Democrats’ education spokesperson, said: “Children are trying to learn while their school buildings crumble around them. This is completely unacceptable and is another display of shocking neglect from this Conservative government.”
The DfE’s latest annual report highlighted school building safety as one of six key risks facing the department. Officials upgraded the risk of buildings collapsing to “critical – very likely”, with the problem being overseen by a cross-departmental board of permanent secretaries.
