£400m for school buildings is 'too little, too late', says union

The government has announced £400m investment to repair school and college buildings in England, but the money will only be available to academies that can demonstrate pay restraint on executive salaries.

Academies and sixth form colleges have been invited to bid for a share of the money which can be used to replace roofs, upgrade sports halls or science labs, and deal with general wear and tear in ageing school buildings.

But as schools continue to struggle to balance their budgets in the face of funding cuts, ministers are concerned that too many executives in multi-academy trusts are still paying themselves excessive salaries.

Now the government has warned that any trusts where a single executive is paid more than £150,000, or there are two employees taking home in excess of £100,000 each, will be penalised in the case of an application for building repair money, and an award will be less likely.

26/05/21DfE had no plan for dealing with a pandemic, says critical report by MPs

Public accounts committee also said a failure to set standards for remote learning led to ‘unequal experiences’

25/05/21Exams 2021: How will my grades be assessed this year?

Exams have been cancelled for the second year running due to the impact caused by coronavirus. The government have put schools will be in charge of grades and assessments this summer in a bid to avoid the results day chaos caused by last year's controversial algorithm.

12/05/21Face masks no longer required in classrooms

Face masks will no longer be required in secondary school classrooms in England after 17 May, the Prime Minister Boris Johnson has confirmed.

04/05/21New school uniform law will keep costs down for families with government guidance to be issued this autumn

Schools will be asked to keep branded items to a minimum when a new school uniform law comes into force later this year.

19/04/21Teaching assistants 'unsung heroes' of pandemic, study shows

UCL Institute for Education finds 88% of TAs supported vulnerable and key worker children in school