2017-11-02
Ms PENNICUIK (Southern Metropolitan) (12:35:57) — My question is for the Minister for Training and Skills representing the Minister for Education, and it concerns a media release by the minister of 31 October in which he announced $2 million in funding for school upgrade works at Bell Primary School. The media release also refers to $3.15 million to upgrade Northcote Primary School and $5 million to upgrade Thornbury High School.
Minister, while I always welcome much-needed funding for any government school for the upgrade of their buildings, when I examined budget paper 4, 'State capital program', Bell Primary School, Northcote Primary School and Thornbury High School were not actually in the budget papers or the forward estimates. So my question is: how much funding is going to schools in Northcote over and above the budget allocation and what process was undergone to allocate that funding?
Ms TIERNEY (Minister for Training and Skills) (12:37:45) — I thank the member for her question. This is a question for the Minister for Education, Mr Merlino. I acknowledge the interest that Ms Pennicuik has in terms of education and training, and I am sure that he will provide a written response within the guidelines.
Ms PENNICUIK (Southern Metropolitan) (12:38:09) — While I always welcome much-needed funding for government school upgrades and maintenance, I have long been calling for increased transparency in the allocation of funding. In fact the Auditor-General in his May report Managing School Infrastructure pointed out that there is much room to improve with regard to transparency and certainty over how the Department of Education and Training allocates maintenance funding. The Auditor-General also made the point that although the department has a 10-year asset strategy and asset management plan, these can often be interfered with by government announcements. So my question is: when is the government going to become more open and transparent over the 10 to 20-year plan with the allocation of funding for school upgrades and maintenance?
Ms TIERNEY (Minister for Training and Skills) (12:39:10) — I thank the member for her question, and it is good that she recognises that there is a plan in place, unlike others. Coupled with the supplementary question, the Minister for Education, Minister Merlino, will respond to her within the guidelines.
Written response on 16 November 2017:
RESPONSE TO SUBSTANTIVE QUESTION:
Thank you for your question regarding the Andrews Labor Government's continued commitment to education in Northcote.
Every year the Victorian Government produces a mid-cycle review of the annual State budget. The Budget update provides revised estimated financial statements relative to the previous Budget, including the projected outcome for the end of the current financial year and revised estimates for the forward years. The funding announcements for Bell Primary School, Northcote Primary School and Thornbury High School will be published in the 2017-18 Budget Update.
RESPONSE TO SUPPLEMENTARY QUESTION:
Minister Merlino was pleased to announce in early November this year that a new Rolling Facilities Evaluation will begin at Victorian government schools from 2018. The assessment will continue on a rolling basis, meaning that after the first five years no school will go for more than five years without a condition assessment.
The last condition assessment of Victorian schools was completed in 2012, however this information was at a point-in-time. The information gathered in the new Rolling Facilities Evaluation, which will begin next year, will be used to prioritise which school facilities need maintenance and upgrades.