PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Schools: Stockport (6 September 2023)

It is the responsibility of those who run schools - academy trusts, Local Authorities and voluntary-aided school bodies - to manage the safety and maintenance of their schools and to alert the Department if there is a serious concern with a building. It has always been the case that where the Department is made aware of a building that may pose an immediate risk, immediate action is taken.

The Condition Data Collection (CDC) programme was the first ever comprehensive survey of the school estate. Previous administrations took no such action to understand the condition of the school estate. Running from 2017 to 2019, it allowed the Department to understand the condition of the school estate over time, and to inform capital funding and programmes by providing information on the condition of all 22,000 government funded school buildings and 260 further education (FE) colleges in England.

Individual CDC reports were shared with every school and the academy trusts, Local Authorities and voluntary aided bodies responsible for those schools to help inform their investment plans, alongside their own more detailed condition surveys and safety checks.

The key, high level findings of the condition data collection programme were published in May 2021.

CDC1 data was committed to the House of Commons and House of Lords Libraries on 20 July 2023.

The Condition Data Collection 2 (CDC2) programme is currently underway and is visiting all government funded schools in England. CDC2 will update school condition data, concluding in 2026.