AQW 25009/22-27
Mr Eóin Tennyson
Alliance Party
Upper Bann
Tabled Date: 25/03/2025
Answered On Date: 03/04/2025
Priority Written: No
Question:
To ask the Minister of Education to detail his Department's criteria for prioritisation of school capital projects.
Answer:
The Department’s school capital programme funds Special Educational Needs (SEN) places as well as maintenance, minor works and all new school builds and extensions. The school funding streams criteria are listed below. School Enhancement Programme (SEP) The second call under the School Enhancement Programme (SEP2) for projects opened in January 2017 with a closure date of 28 February 2017. All applications to the programme were assessed under the published protocol which details the selection criteria and is available at School Enhancement Programme - Second Call Protocol for selection | Department of Education Funding continues to be available to progress SEP2 projects through the design stages to pre-tender. A decision to release projects to tender for a contractor will be taken on a case-by-case basis, dependent on budget availability at that time. Major Capital Works The criteria for selection of Major Capital Works projects are set out in the Departments “Protocols for Selection of Major Capital Works” document. The Protocol for the most recent call for major works, announced in 2022, is available at https://www.education-ni.gov.uk/topics/protocol-selection-major-capital-works-december-2021 Due to the current capital budget position and number of schools already on the major works programme, I do not intend to make a further call for major works in the near future. Special Educational Needs (SEN) In April 2024 I created a standalone capital programme to support children with SEN. All SEN capital projects across all other project streams were brought under the one dedicated programme, with its own budget, to ensure the works are prioritised and expedited for delivery. Minor Works Within the current budget constraints, minor works are restricted to Ministerial Priority 1 i.e. those works that meet inescapable statutory requirements, such as health and safety, fire protection, safeguarding and statutory obligations under the Disability Discrimination Act. Schemes which meet those requirements are prioritised for delivery, although the timescales for delivery will vary depending on issues like: Their state of readiness e.g. need for planning approval. The logistics of delivery e.g. some projects can only be delivered when pupils are not on site, limiting the window to holiday periods, typically the summer months. The availability of funding e.g. some small-scale projects can be “mopped up” at the end of the financial year if there is available funding.
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