In part three of our mini-series on estate management and the DfE’s ‘Good estate management for schools’ (GEMS) guidance, we’re turning our focus to school capital funding. After all, it’s the aspect of estates management with all the power, yet the one that often feels like the gatekeeper to success!
Keep reading for insight from our recent webinar on how to make funding go further. We cover:
- The current condition of school buildings – and what’s being done about it
- The impact of short-term thinking on the estate vision
- How to improve visibility over where capital funding should be prioritised in your school
Prefer to view the webinar? Click the button below to watch the session back now or save for later!
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The current condition of school buildings
Last summer, the National Audit Office (NAO) published its ‘Condition of school buildings’ report. It found the DfE spent an average of £2.3 billion on school rebuilding, maintenance, and repair between 2016-17 and 2022-23. Yet more than double this figure (£5.3 billion) is required to maintain schools and ‘mitigate the most serious risks of building failure’ in the long term, according to the DfE’s own recommendation in 2020.
Subsequently, the government allocated £3 billion to school capital projects for 2021 to 2025. And though it’s a sizeable figure, it’s nowhere near the level the DfE advised. School and MAT responsible bodies have since become more likely to prioritise funding on buildings in the worst condition only, leaving less money to spend maintaining other areas of the estate that also need of investment.
School capital funding: The impact of short-term thinking
It’s the obvious decision to make, but it’s one that causes further condition management issues further down the line. That’s evidenced by other findings in the NAO’s report which goes on to state how stakeholders feel current funding levels mean ‘responsible bodies may delay carrying out remedial work’.
In the long run, that means poorer value for money. In the short-term, it means school leaders are having to find ways to make condition and maintenance funding stretch further – something that can cause disparity between those upholding estate condition daily and those who hold the all-important purse strings.
There’s still a bit of a culture battle between estate managers and school leaders.
Some estates teams feel it's a struggle to really interest school leaders in the strategic management of their buildings. But, this whole team engagement is vital to ensuring the estate vision and strategy are delivered upon.
Engaging stakeholders with easy-to-consume data is key to bridging gaps in understanding so everyone’s on the same page about where the funding needs to be prioritised – and why.
Improving visibility over where school capital funding is needed
At the core of good estate management lies making the best use of the school capital funding that’s available. But schools and MATs can’t do that unless they have a full understanding of what their condition data is telling them.
Enter the Project Management module of our school compliance management software, Every Compliance. The system is designed to meet the nuances of school capital funding, enabling you to host all information relating to a project and the cash that’s allocated to it:
- Source and value of funding
- Name of project funding is to be used for
- Financial year funding was given and its expiry date
- Project progress tracking through milestone completion
- Key document storage for current and future reference
A single place to store all the information on available capital funding and both current and future school condition projects is particularly beneficial for MATs managing multiple school buildings across their estates.
Capital funding is received centrally, so it’s imperative for MAT leaders to have access to all the relevant information to shape the most informed decisions about where it needs investing.
When stakeholders have a better understanding of the scope, timeline(s), and objectives of a project and its allocated funding, they’re more empowered to manage it successfully.
Make school capital funding go further
To find out how schools and MATs are using Every Compliance to make their capital funding allocations go further, read the fourth and final part of our GEMS mini-series.
To learn how condition project management in your school or MATs could be improved with the help of our compliance management software, get in touch with our team.
