Value for Money
Condition of school buildings
Published 28 June 2023
7 recommendations
Department for Education
Education, training and skillsPeople and operationsProperty and estatesSchools
nao.org.uk
Following years of underinvestment, the overall condition of school buildings is declining. Around 700,000 pupils attend a school that needs major rebuilding or refurbishment.
Recommendations (7)
Source: NAO Recommendations Tracker · PAC follow-up below
Department for Education
Rec 1
Partially Accepted
Implemented
b) identify a set of high-level measures that would allow it to summarise and externally report on how well it is delivering its overarching principle to rebuild schools in the worst condition while allocating enough funding to allow responsible bodies to maintain the rest of the school estate;
Department for Education
Rec 2
Accepted
Implemented
a) determine by when, and through what means, it plans to have fully dealt with RAAC as a safety issue across the school estate so that it is no longer a critical risk
Department for Education
Rec 3
Accepted
Implemented
c) reconsider the appropriateness of its assumptions on the balance between rebuilding and maintenance, given the declining condition of the estate and the funding it has available;
Department for Education
Rec 4
Accepted
Implemented
g) ensure that schools and responsible bodies, particularly those who must apply for specific maintenance and repair funding and have poor condition or potentially unsafe buildings, are aware of the funding, guidance and support available, so they use it when needed.
Department for Education
Rec 5
Accepted
Implemented
d) assess whether its current plan to carry out 200 invasive structural assessments on system-built blocks remains the best approach to provide an accurate and comprehensive understanding of the nature and the scale of the risks associated with the blocks, and therefore how best to mitigate these risks across the estate;
Department for Education
Rec 6
Accepted
Work in Progress
e) use new data, including the results of its second data collection programme when available, to assess whether its current formula for allocating funding for maintenance and repair is sufficiently aligned with need;
Department for Education
Rec 7
Accepted
Implemented
f) formally assess the appropriateness of the threshold which determines whether responsible bodies receive maintenance and repair funding directly or through applying for specific projects;
Parliamentary Committee Follow-Up
The Public Accounts Committee examined this NAO report and published its own recommendations. The government responds to PAC recommendations via Treasury Minutes.
Second Report - The condition of school buildings
Public Accounts Committee
· 19 November 2023
· 16 recommendations