More than £3.1 million has been spent on planning and preparatory work for a replacement Castle Rushen High School, according to figures released in a Tynwald written answer.

Education Minister Daphne Caine confirmed that £3.116 million had been spent between the 2017/18 financial year and June 2026 on the project, including project development, feasibility work, master planning, design, consultancy and other preparatory work.

The figures were provided in response to a written question from previous Arbory, Castletown and Malew MHK Mr Moorhouse, who asked how much had been spent on planning between 2016 and 2021, as well as from 2021 to 2026.

Mrs Caine said the Department had interpreted ‘planning’ to include expenditure associated with the development of the replacement school and works connected with the sports pitches.

She also clarified that the figures did not relate solely to statutory planning application fees, as no statutory planning application had yet been submitted.

The response showed spending of £36,000 in 2017/18, £66,000 in 2018/19, £126,000 in 2019/20 and £441,000 in 2020/21.

Spending then increased to £812,000 in 2021/22 and £861,000 in 2022/23.

No expenditure was recorded against the project in 2023/24, while £45,000 was spent in 2024/25.

The Department then provided figures taken directly from its AX finance system for the most recent financial years, which have not yet been published. These show expenditure of £641,000 in 2025/26, followed by a further £88,000 up to June 2026.

Taken together, the figures supplied to Tynwald amount to £3.116 million in expenditure on planning and related preparatory work.