Education: Academies (29th June 2011)
Oliver Heald (North East Hertfordshire, Conservative)
To ask the Secretary of State for Education what plans he has to fund the refurbishment and rebuilding of academies; and if he will make a statement.
Nick Gibb (Minister of State (Schools), Education; Bognor Regis and Littlehampton, Conservative)
There are a number of Academies that have had capital funding approved for new or refurbished buildings through the Building Schools for the Future programme. Projects of this nature, which started under the previous Government and are now confirmed, will continue to completion.
Priority is being given to meeting urgent building condition needs and the basic need for new pupil places because of local demographic changes. An £85 million Academies Capital Maintenance Fund is available for the purposes of addressing urgent building condition needs. The first round of applications to the fund closed on27 May 2011. Partnerships for Schools is currently assessing these applications and will notify Academies of the outcome by the end of June.
The Secretary of State for Education, my right hon. Friend Michael Gove, ordered a comprehensive review of all the Department's capital programmes last year, which reported on8 April 2011. The Department's response to the review, which is planned for later this year, will inform how we provide capital funding to Academies in future years, including any for new buildings and refurbishment projects.