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DfE's £400m school facilities fund is 'too little, too late'

The latest round of the government’s Condition Improvement Fund has been launched, with “more than £400 million” available to academies and sixth form colleges.

However, critics have once again said that, while welcome, the money is not enough and the government “still fails to realise the scale of the problem”.

The money is for things like classroom expansions, upgrades to facilities such as sports halls and science laboratories as well as for general wear and tear.

The DfE handed out around £430 million from its Condition Improvement Fund in 2019/20. This latest round is for 2020/21.

However, Dr Mary Bousted, joint general secretary of the National Education Union, said the money was “too little, too late”.

She said: “Schools and colleges have suffered a deep and wounding real-terms funding crisis for many years, which recent spending announcements will not fix. Years of tight budgets has made repairs to buildings unaffordable if not impossible. The coalition government scrapped Building Schools for the Future in 2010, cancelling 700 building projects at a stroke.

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