Schools minister says concrete issues are not widespread

       Parents are facing back to school chaos after the government ordered headteachers to shut down more than 100 buildings days before the new term begins.

       Ministers were accused of “incompetence” over the last minute closures, after it emerged officials had been warned five years ago that a type of concrete used in some buildings is at risk of crumbling.

       Education Secretary Gillian Keegan insisted that a “cautious approach” was the correct way to deal with the issue.

       She said her office was “acting on new evidence” about reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) but did not disclose what prompted the urgent measures.

       Cllr Kevin Bentley, senior vice-chairman of the Local Government Association, said: “Leaving this announcement until near the end of the summer holidays, rather than at the beginning, has left schools and councils with very little time to make urgent rearrangements and minimise disruption to classroom learning.

       READ MORE More than 100 schools close just days before new term over collapse fears

       104 schools told buildings are not safe (Image: local.gov.uk/itv)

       “The LGA has been warning of the risk from RAAC in schools since 2018. The Government should urgently establish a taskforce to ensure the safety of both pupils and staff in the long term.”

       Ministers have been monitoring cases since 2018 but said the decision to close some schools comes as “new cases have made us less confident that buildings containing RAAC should remain open without extra safety measures in place”.

       The Government has already told 52 schools affected by RAAC to close sections of their buildings, and issued guidance to a further 104 schools, nurseries and colleges yesterday.

       They have been told they will have to fund their own emergency accommodation.

       Spaces in nearby schools, community centres or in an “empty local office building” have been recommended for the “first few weeks” while buildings are secured with structural supports. Teachers were told moving to pandemic-style remote education should only be considered as a “last resort and for a short period”.

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       Education Secretary Gillian Keegan (Image: Getty)

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       Unions slammed the decision and warned the timing “couldn’t be worse”. National Education Union general secretary Daniel Kebede said: “It is absolutely disgraceful, and a sign of gross government incompetence, that a few days before the start of term, 104 schools are finding out that some or all of their buildings are unsafe and cannot be used.

       “To add insult to injury the Government states in its guidance that it will not be covering the costs of emergency temporary accommodation or additional transport. The Government is therefore expecting schools to pay the additional costs of its own shocking neglect of school buildings.

       “This is not made clear in the Government announcement, meaning that school leaders are likely to be misled about the full costs to their budget.”

       He said the announcement would cause “massive disruption to the education of thousands of children and huge inconvenience to school leaders”.

       The Department for Education made the announcement while also refusing to publish details of which schools were affected. It said headteachers are contacting -parents to let them know if their child’s school is one of the 104 affected.

       Some schools may have to move completely while safety measures against RAAC are installed, it was said.

       Ms Keegan said: “Nothing is more important than making sure children and staff are safe in schools and colleges, which is why we are acting on new evidence about RAAC now, ahead of the start of term.

       “The plan we have set out will minimise the impact on pupil learning and provide schools with the right funding and support they need to put mitigations in place to deal with RAAC.”

       The DfE said a “minority” will need to “either fully or partially relocate” to alternative accommodation while safety measures are installed.

       But its guidance said funding will only be provided for works that are “capital funded” and schools will have to pay for rental costs for emergency accommodation.

       RAAC is a lightweight building material used up to the mid-1980s.

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