Written question WQ92747

The Sustainable Communities for Learning (formerly 21st Century Schools and Colleges) capital budget for 2024/25 is £343.4m and includes numerous programme funding streams which provide grant funding to Local Authorities, Further Education Institutions, Higher Education Institutions and Dioceses. Based on delivery partner strategic plans and anticipated spend profiles the 2024/25 budget is broken down by project stream below:

Description

2024-25 Budget £000s

SCfL – Band B

200,173

Community Focussed Schools

20,000

ALN Capital

20,000

VA Urgent Repairs

5,000

VA Capital Repairs and Maintenance

1,329

Childcare & Early Years Capital

39,500

Welsh Medium Capital

26,000

Higher Education Research Capital

4,478

Higher Education including Estates Maintenance

12,720

Commission for Tertiary Education and Research (CTER)

1,200

Further Education Digital

3,000

Schools ICT Investment

10,000

Total Capital Funding

343,400

Several of these grant funding streams are awarded set amounts per financial year, apportioned on the basis of pupil and school numbers. These include Additional Learning Needs (ALN) capital grant, Voluntary Aided (VA) Capital Repairs and Maintenance Grant and School/college ICT Investment.

Other grants are based on a bidding process with submission of a business case prior to the award of funding. In these cases, it is not possible to split the budget allocation between geographical regions at this early stage of the financial year, although an estimate has been provided based on current cashflow projections submitted by delivery partners. These include the Band B Capital Programme, Community Focussed Schools, VA Urgent Repairs, Childcare and Early Years, and Welsh Medium capital grants.

Budgets in relation to Higher Education Research Capital, Higher Education Estates Maintenance and Commission of Tertiary Education Research (CTER) capital grants are lump sum allocations that are not budgeted by region.

For the purposes of this response, the budgets in the table below are provided by local authority area and includes funding for schools, colleges, universities and diocesan authorities in each region. The table includes capital funding related to fixed allocations, as well as funding for approved projects as explained above. Due to the nature of capital projects, funding for approved projects is likely to change throughout the year and is currently based on the most recent cashflow projection provided by the relevant delivery partner.

Local Authority Area

Estimated/Projected Budget (£'000)

Anglesey

3,896

Blaenau Gwent

13,672

Bridgend

13,696

Caerphilly

18,136

Cardiff

77,104

Carmarthenshire

9,167

Ceredigion

5,867

Conwy

3,934

Denbighshire

3,239

Flintshire

10,033

Gwynedd

10,419

Merthyr Tydfil

33,319

Monmouthshire

16,159

Neath Port Talbot

14,427

Newport

8,024

Pembrokeshire

11,539

Powys

3,623

RCT

19,486

Swansea

11,002

Vale of Glamorgan

16,355

Torfaen

14,613

Wrexham

6,307

Currently not specific to a LA area*

19,383

Total

343,400

* This relates to in-year funding associated with pipeline projects which are yet to receive final business case approval.