The need for a clear picture of sustainability

Despite its aims to decarbonise, a new report shows that the Department for Education does not yet have a clear view of the sector’s current sustainability position, what interventions offer the best value for money, and what it will cost to decarbonise the school estate

According to the National Audit Office (NAO), more than a third (24,000) of English school buildings are past their estimated initial design life. Not only does this pose safety issues, the deteriorating condition of the school estate also presents challenges for DfE’s sustainability ambitions.

The NAO’s Environmental Sustainability overview report shows how schools have focused funding on improving school building conditions with sustainability integrated where possible. However, it found that DfE’s efforts are hampered by its lack of a clear, national picture of sustainability in schools or the risk that climate change poses.

A high emitting sector

Education is the public sector’s largest emitter of carbon from buildings: 37 per cent of public sector emissions, comprising 13 per cent from state primary schools, 11 per cent from state secondary schools and 13 per cent from universities.

In April 2022, DfE published its Sustainability and Climate Change Strategy, which set out DfE’s plans to meet obligations to improve the environment and its policies to improve the sustainability of education services and promote learning about and understanding of environmental sustainability and climate change. It makes 143 commitments in five broad areas: the education estate, green skills and careers, climate education, operations and supply chain, and international influence

The government has set a target to reduce direct emissions from public sector buildings by 75 per cent by 2037. A specific target for education buildings has not been set.

The NAO found that the DfE’s current schemes will not bring it close to achieving a 75 per cent reduction. DfE plans to implement emissions targets for the education sector from 2025 and is exploring financing options to help accelerate its efforts. As part of its new building efforts, the DfE intends to re-build the 500 schools in its ten-year programme as net zero buildings. E

F But this only makes up two per cent of the school estate.

The report says that the DfE lacks a clear, national picture of the sustainability position of the school estate or the risks that climate change poses to the sector. As a result, it cannot yet strategically target funding or sustainability interventions to schools. The data DfE does have are not complete or up-todate, particularly for old schools. It has started work to improve data coverage to enable it to monitor and target funding better. It plans to standardise emissions data and reporting; develop a climate risk framework to assess the risks to schools from flooding, overheating and water scarcity; and set emissions targets for the sector by 2025.

The DfE is piloting ways to reduce emissions and increase energy efficiency in school buildings, in order to assess which initiatives justify future investment. It is running a series of pilots to test approaches to operating schools at zero carbon; improve energy efficiency, and resilience to the effects of climate change; and use ultra-low carbon construction methods. From 2025, DfE expects to invest in scaling up and rolling out successful approaches to the education sector.

Money to address the issue

To make the most of the money it has available for decarbonising education estates, DfE is testing ways to reduce emissions and adapt the schools at highest risk of harm from climate change. However, the report says that these measures will not make a contribution to achieving the government’s overall goals unless they are rolled out at a much larger scale, and relatively soon. As it stands there is no plan in place for achieving the scale of decarbonisation across the education sector that is needed for DfE to make a proportionate contribution to government’s targets.

DfE is planning to secure additional funding for this work, but it does not yet have a clear view of the sector’s current sustainability position, what interventions offer the best value for money and what it will cost to decarbonise the school estate.

Given the uncertainty around the additional funding that is likely to be available, the report says that it is important that DfE works with the sector to share evidence for what works, to encourage schools to use their capital and maintenance funds to make improvements in a way that also supports government’s sustainability objectives.

The NAO report says that once an emissions target is in place for the education sector, it must publish a decarbonisation plan to define progress towards net zero for its estates.

Calls for a retrofit scheme

Alex Green, head of the Let’s Go Zero campaign – where schools commit to becoming net zero by 2030, said: “It is deeply concerning that the National Audit Office reports that the overall conditions of school estates are declining following years of under-investment. To help address safety concerns and also ensure schools are fit for the future, the government must urgently adapt and retrofit the UK school estate.

“A state-wide retrofit programme would help cut high energy bills, help the UK meet its climate targets, and spark green jobs in every corner of the country.”

Representing 2,232 schools including nearly 170,000 teachers and 1.86m pupils, Let’s Go Zero points out that the Department for Education’s new Sustainability and Climate Change strategy released in April 2022 includes several steps in the right direction, but it does not go anywhere near far enough, fast enough in the face of a climate emergency.

Let’s Go Zero is calling for the government to commit to all UK schools being zero carbon by 2030 and to announce long-term and consistent policies and funding to enable this, and to invest in adapting and retrofitting the school estate.

Alex Green adds: “Progress has been made with a commitment in November 2021 by the Department for Education to commit to improving their building specifications, so that all new school buildings from 2022 onwards are net zero carbon in operation, but the majority of school buildings are old – and they are still left cold and unsafe.”

“This NAO report highlights the fact that improving the fabric of schools is an urgent safety concern. This work needs to be done bringing in energy efficiency so that schools are warm and safe spaces for learning, dramatically cheaper to run, and healthier.” L

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