Education cuts: No new school buildings to be started in 2023-24

No new school buildings or school extensions will be started in 2023-24 due to cuts to the education budget.

Work already started will continue but no new building projects will begin.

A scheme to provide devices like iPads and laptops to disadvantaged pupils is also being paused.

It comes as a forum representing more than 50 public bodies, including the Education Authority (EA), said that critical services are being put at risk by the lack of a Stormont budget.

The Public Sector Chairs' Forum has written to Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris calling on him to provide a manageable way forward for public services.

It called for a strategic approach to "protect services, provide value for money and a strong platform for reform".

The details of a pause on new school construction work were revealed in a letter to principals from the Department of Education about funding for capital projects.

Capital spending is different to day-to-day spending and pays for buildings or infrastructure.

The Department of Education (DE) has already axed a number of schemes that helped schools and pupils in advance of its 2023-24 budget being confirmed.

That included a fund for schools to help provide extra support for disadvantaged pupils.

There have been warnings that Stormont departments may face large cuts when the Northern Ireland secretary delivers the 2023-24 budget.

In a letter to school heads, the Department of Education's director of investment and infrastructure, Dr Suzanne Kingon, said a reduced capital budget and rising construction costs would mean extremely difficult decisions.

She said the indicative funding for the department's 2023-24 capital budget was £180m, a fall from the previous year.

"Regrettably, the funding we have available is about £7.5m less than last year and we are continuing to encounter unprecedented increases in construction market prices," she said.

"At a time when a single new build post-primary school may cost upwards of £40m, you will appreciate an education capital budget of £180m cannot deliver all that we would hope across a schools' estate consisting of 1,121 schools.

"The demands on the budget far exceed funding available and we are, therefore, having to make extremely difficult decisions about how best to target this funding both in the current year and going forward."

Dr Kingon said school buildings already being constructed would continue, but other planned work would be affected.

"Beyond that, our focus will be the areas of greatest need," she continued.

"It is unlikely we will be able to commence construction of any executive-funded new school builds or school enhancement projects."

School enhancement is for school buildings costing between £500,000 and £4m.

School enhancement does not replace a whole school with a new building but can provide a school with new classrooms or other new facilities.

Dr Kingon said other schemes paid for from the capital budget would also be affected.

"At present, we are also unable to fund other important capital priorities, such as the roll out of digital devices for pupils in need as envisaged in the Fair Start Programme and the continued replacement of the Education Authority bus fleet."

The department was spending about £1m a year providing schools with high numbers of pupils entitled to free school meals with new digital devices like laptops and iPads.

It followed a recommendation contained in the 2021 "A Fair Start" report into the impact of deprivation on education.

The department had planned to provide about 16,000 devices to about 450 schools by 2026, but that timetable is now unlikely to be met.

Dr Kingon said about £70m would be spent on emergency repairs to schools and creating extra school places for pupils with special educational needs (SEN) in 2023-24.

However, the Education Authority has previously said that there is a backlog for school maintenance and repairs in Northern Ireland of about £500m.