The education landscape has changed dramatically since Labour were last in power. As they take office for the first time in fourteen years, we’re all wondering what this will really mean for schools and academies.

There are some funded commitments to education within their manifesto to recruit new teachers, expand breakfast clubs and open additional nursery places. For more information on manifesto commitments please see here. However, details on overall approach to education core spending or capital investment for the school estate was missing from the debate during the election campaign.

Here we review some key issues facing the new government and what schools and academies should be looking out for in upcoming spend reviews and policy announcements.

Addressing the ‘conspiracy of silence’

During the election campaign, the Institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS) said that both the main parties were operating under a “conspiracy of silence” by not acknowledging the scale of the challenge they face over balancing tax rises and public spending.

Labour signed up to tight spending plans and rules which the IFS suggest implies significant cuts to unprotected areas such as Further Education. Current plans also suggest capital investment will be fixed in cash terms and subject to inflation which may have consequences for the school estate. The new government’s answer to challenges facing the public purse revolve around growing the economy to bridge the gap between the current spending plans and resources needed to ensure further cuts to public services.

With the election campaign over, we will be looking to see how Labour start to acknowledge the challenges they face across the public sector and how they begin to prioritise spending commitments.

Overall condition of the school estate

A year has nearly passed since RAAC (reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete) shone a temporary light on the condition of the school estate. While the media attention may have passed, schools and academy trusts are still managing aging school estates with dwindling capital funding.

Concerns over the structural safety of schools have been circulating for several years: in 2021 the Department for Education (DfE) assessed the threat to safety in school buildings as a critical risk. According to the National Audit Office, (NAO) 38% of school buildings are beyond their initial life design (School Buildings Report, June 2023) and the presence of RAAC is just one of many issues to consider.

Many school buildings were constructed in the post war period, where a significant number of school places were needed quickly, using structures called ‘system-builds.’ Despite being past initial life design, most ‘system builds’ can be kept structurally sound with adequate maintenance, but it is worth noting that asbestos based material may also be prevalent in these buildings. There is also a subset of ‘system builds’ that the DfE are particularly concerned about where the replacement of these buildings would be the preferred or necessary solution.

Capital funding

Since 2010 there has been a large drop in school capital funding and according to the NAO, there has also been a disconnect between how much funding the DfE thinks it needs and the funding provided by the treasury. The DfE believe that funding levels under the last government have resulted in ‘responsible bodies … delay[ing] carrying out remedial work, leading to poor longer-term value for money’.

As it stands, if capital budgets are fixed in cash terms from next year, funding available to maintain school estates is likely to continue to be squeezed. The impact of rising inflation is evident already in the large reduction of successful academies in the last two years of Condition Improvement Fund. Indeed, the approach to CIF clearly articulates the current funding situation facing the school estate, as funding is only allocated to the schools demonstrating the most urgent need. The uptake of this suggests that 20% of state funded schools (those eligible for CIF) will only receive capital funding, at the point of urgent need, rather than to take preventative measures.

While last year the DfE judged that there is insufficient capital funding available and that the most effective further mitigation to improve the school estate would be an expanded School Rebuilding Programme, such an investment is not evident in Labour’s current spending plans. Given all 500 places of the Conservative’s School Rebuilding Programme have been taken, with many schools identified with RAAC taking the final places, and a lack of mention of school buildings in Labour’s manifesto, leaves the question: what will they do next to address the aging education estate?

Sustainability and climate change.

While structural safety is the primary concern when thinking about an aging school estate; the need to decarbonise our buildings has become significantly more evident over the Conservative’s time in office. In 2019 the government set a legally binding target to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, with the aim to reduce all direct emissions from public sector buildings by 50% and 75% by 2032 and 2037 respectively.

Education is the public sector's largest emitter of carbon from buildings, amounting to 37% of all public sector emissions. Indeed, school buildings are often very thermally inefficient which has implications for energy efficiency and the achievability of net zero.

In 2022, the DfE announced its the ambition for the United Kingdom to be the world-leading education sector in sustainability and climate change by 2030. However there have been questions around the funding levels available to help the schools and academies reach the ambition with the NAO suggesting “a mismatch between the funding allocated for this work and the ambitions of the strategy”.

In response, the DfE suggested that it was currently in a phase of engaging and planning with the intention to secure investment for rapid rollout of decarbonisation initiatives from 2025. With all schools expecting to have sustainability leads and Climate Action Plans in place by 2025, we will watch with interest to see how the new government responds to the challenge of significant reduction in carbon emissions, with seemingly little budget to support it.

Taking action

While we wait for clarity on the new government’s approach to the school estate, there are still clear steps that schools can take to ensure their buildings are safe, with a long-term plan to deliver the energy and sustainability upgrades needed to future proof their estates.

Take a strategic approach using information and data collected across your buildings and then prioritise work in order of urgency, need and how well it meets your educational objectives. Consider both structural and energy efficiency requirements with a clear roadmap and understanding of the costs and work needed.

In this transition period of a new government, knowledgeable consultants will keep their clients up to date with emerging estate and capital policies. Meanwhile having a costed plan of action will put schools in the best position to act if new funding opportunities present themselves. For more information on how Surveyors to Education can assist you in your analysis and planning, please get in touch on 0116 5070130 or email enquire@s2e.org.uk.