Schools, local authorities and academy trusts in England will receive a share of the £1.4bn, which is not ‘new’ money

The government has announced it is to spend £1.4bn on bringing school buildings in England up to scratch as part of an education investment programme worth £2.4bn.

Schools, local authorities and academy trusts in England will receive a share of the £1.4bn, which is not ‘new’ money, to invest in upgrading or improving their school buildings, while academies and sixth form colleges will receive a total of £466m to pay for around 1,500 vital school building work projects.

The government said the funding would boost its drive to help create more than 600,000 extra places by 2021.

Education secretary Justine Greening said: “Our Plan for Britain is to build a fairer society, with a good school place available for every child.

“This £2.4bn investment, together with our proposals to create more good school places, will help ensure every young person has the opportunity to fulfil their potential.”

The funding package comprises £980m of funding allocations for local authorities in 2019-20 to create more than 60,000 required school places.

Last month it was announced that Aecom would survey 5,500 schools in England over the next three years in order assist the Education Funding Agency prioritise its future capital funding strategy.

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