Academies and sixth
form colleges across England can now bid for a share of more than £400 million
to transform facilities, improve school buildings and create more good school
places.
The
multi-million-pound annual fund can be used by academies and sixth form
colleges to expand classrooms, upgrade facilities such as sports halls or
science labs, and address issues with the general wear and tear of school
buildings.
This year
applications will be subject to new criteria which will favour bids from
schools with good governance and organised finances – including showing
restraint on executive salaries.
The launch of
millions of pounds to improve schools and colleges across the country follows
the Prime Minister’s announcement confirming the budget for schools and high
needs education would be increased by a total of over £14 billion over three
years, rising to £52.2 billion by 2022-23. Schools and local authorities found
out earlier this month their allocations for the first part of that investment
- £2.6 billion - for the coming year.
Education Secretary
Gavin Williamson said: This government is determined to give all children the
best possible education, but as well as great teachers, we want all pupils to
learn in classrooms that enable them to gain the knowledge and skills they need
for success.
"Following our
huge investment in school funding with an increase of a total of £14 billion
over three years, this year’s multi-million-pound fund will support our pledge
to create more good school places and continue raising standards."
The Department for
Education has launched the latest round of the Condition Improvement Fund – the
last of which approved bids worth over £400 million to improve school buildings
and expand academies and sixth-form colleges rated Good or Outstanding by Ofsted.
The new criteria
builds on a number of steps taken by the Government to bolster academy trust
finances and clamp down on high pay – challenging 278 trusts over pay since
2017, with 51 academy trusts reducing top salaries as a result.
The strengthened
criteria for next year’s Condition Improvement Fund will incentivise academies
and trusts to improve finances and governance. Bids are assessed on a point
based criteria and applicants will get a four-point deduction if they pay two
or more salaries in excess of £100,000 or one salary over £150,000, and have
failed to take appropriate action in response to our high pay challenge.
Alongside this, Academies Minister Lord Agnew has also introduced:
- an extra point for applicants
that have signed-up to the most recent government funding agreement;
- deductions of up to four
points for applicants that have not submitted a financial improvement plan
following a visit from a School Resource Management Adviser; and
- Further scrutiny for
successful projects worth more than £1 million.
All applications for
the Condition Improvement Fund will be scored against the new criteria, with
points added or deducted from the overall score. For unsuccessful bids,
applicants will still have the option of applying for Urgent Capital Support to
ensure their buildings are safe for pupils and staff.
The announcement
comes ahead of the deadline this Thursday (31 October) for parents to choose
secondary schools for their children. In 2019, 93% of parents received offers
for one of their top three choices. We’re on track to create a million new
school places this decade, the largest increase in school capacity for at least
two generations.
