PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Schools: Special Educational Needs (12 October 2015)

Between 2010 and 2014 the Department for Education provided £10 billion in capital funding to local authorities and academies for the purpose of providing enough school places and maintaining existing school buildings. It is for responsible bodies to decide which projects they invest this money in, including rebuilds, and we therefore do not hold data centrally about the number of and average cost of special school rebuilds carried out with this funding.

The Department for Education does directly manage the delivery of the Priority School Building Programme (PSBP) and Free Schools Programme both of which build special schools.

The PSBP was launched in 2012 to address the needs of the schools in the worst condition across the country. Through the PSBP, 18 special schools are being rebuilt. By 31 Dec 2014, two of the schools within the programme had been rebuilt at a cost of £5.6 million and £5.9 million (including VAT). So far this year (2015) a further nine schools in this category have been rebuilt at a cost of £62 million (including VAT). The remaining seven schools are all in construction. PSBP is worth £4.4 billion.