The Schools’ Estate in Northern Ireland is deteriorating and a new, more strategic, approach is required to make better use of the limited funding currently available. That is the conclusion of a report published today (Tuesday 12 November 2024) by the Comptroller and Auditor General.
Dorinnia Carville’s report on ‘Managing the Schools’ Estate’ focuses on the Department for Education’s existing approach to capital investment and maintenance funding, considering this in the context of estate management best practice. The report acknowledges historic and ongoing challenges, including the complexity of Northern Ireland’s school system, budgetary pressures and rising costs. However, it finds that significant improvements are required to ensure that the limited funding currently available is used more effectively in the future.
Today’s report notes that, with over 1,100 schools, the schools’ estate in Northern Ireland has a total estimated capital value of £4.6 billion. In 2023-24, the Department recorded a total capital expenditure of £276.4 million across the estate, and a spend of £28.4 million on maintenance.
The report concludes that the Department is currently focused on keeping schools open and safe. In practice, this means that funds are being directed at replacing and repairing critical estate issues, in lieu of a strategy based upon comprehensive data on the estate’s overall condition, suitability and maintenance needs. The Department estimates that, at today’s prices, it will need 30 years and £3.2 billion to complete its current list of approved capital projects, with the current maintenance backlog estimated at around £450 million – but potentially much higher.
An additional challenge facing the education system will be ensuring that the schools’ estate supports Northern Ireland’s net zero ambitions. Like the rest of the UK, Northern Ireland set a target to reach net zero emissions by 2050. However, progress has been slow and the targets are challenging. No schools in Northern Ireland have been built or refurbished to a net zero standard, and it is estimated that retrofitting the schools’ estate will cost upwards of £2billion.
Today’s report concludes that a continued reliance on a short-term, reactive approach will see the schools’ estate continuing to deteriorate, leading to more reactive, and expensive, repairs and replacement works in the future. This may, in turn, impact negatively on value for money, delivery of education, and, ultimately, educational outcomes.
The Department fully recognises that decisions being taken to manage expenditure are having a significant impact on pupils and schools and that the current approach is unsustainable.
Commenting on the report’s findings, Comptroller and Auditor General Dorinnia Carville said: “A well-managed schools’ estate promotes operational efficiency. More importantly, however, it delivers a conducive environment for effective teaching and learning. While this report finds that the Department’s existing estate management practices address some aspects of good practice, the absence of an overarching strategy risks storing up greater challenges for the future.”
“The schools’ estate is recognised as a vital public asset, but our findings suggest that the Department does not have a full understanding of its true condition. That is why this report recommends, among other things, the completion of regular condition surveys to inform future decision-making. This data will be vital in supporting a move towards better planning, prioritisation and preventative action which will support schools’ sustainability and deliver better value for money.”
Other findings and challenges to the schools’ estate highlighted by today’s report include the following:
- The Department is currently committed to paying for 20 schools within nine Public Private Partnership (PPP)/ Private Finance Initiative (PFI) contracts. These schools remain in private ownership until contracts end, when their ongoing maintenance becomes a public sector responsibility. The first contract ends in 2025, bringing additional maintenance demands on departmental budgets, with maintenance unlikely to be available on the same basis as during the contract. The report urges the Department to ensure that it has appropriate plans in place to manage this transition as assets not in an appropriate condition at handover risk putting additional pressures on the system.
- In 2023, the issue of Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) (a material used in school construction between the 1950s and 1990s) became a media headline due to safety concerns. Today’s report notes that, despite previous industry warnings, notification from the Department for Education (DfE) in England and the media coverage, the Department did not react as effectively as it could have to the risk. Ultimately, when commissioned to investigate, the Education Authority’s Maintenance Service was quick to identify and complete surveys and to date, only one instance of RAAC has been identified in Northern Ireland.
Read the full report here