EDUCATION SECRETARY Gillian Keegan admitted yesterday that the list of schools and colleges in England where collapse-risk concrete continues to rise.
She told the Commons education select committee the total that have been identified as having reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (Raac) on site had risen by 17 to 231 as of November 27.
Scores of schools and colleges in England were told by the government to fully or partly close their buildings just days before the start of the autumn term amid concerns about Raac.
Ms Keegan told MPs that “231 currently have confirmed Raac,” saying: “Now we do expect there will be some more because, as we go back for follow-up survey work, we will identify a few more.
“There will only be probably a handful more cases because it’s definitely massively slowed down.”
The previous update from the Department for Education (DfE) showed there were 214 settings with Raac — with 12 offering “hybrid” education of face-to-face and remote learning as a result — as of October 16.
The new list suggests three secondary schools are providing such a mix of face-to-face lessons and remote learning.
Paul Whiteman, general secretary at school leaders’ union NAHT, said: “It is pretty embarrassing for the government that we are now almost at the end of the autumn term and it is still adding schools to this list — and the Secretary of State has today told the education committee that this figure will continue to rise.
“We were promised urgency and immediate repairs and yet there are still schools waiting for mitigations to be put in place.
“This long overdue update shows the continuing disruption facing many pupils, parents and schools.
“It underlines the government’s failure to set out a timetable for how long this will continue, let alone the long-term plan and fresh investment desperately needed to ensure the school estate is safe and fit for purpose.”
Wayne Bates, NASUWT’s national official in charge of health and safety, said the findings were “worrying” especially as the DfE is already falling behind its target of rebuilding 50 schools per year.
The department’s permanent secretary Susan Acland-Hood said 41 “settings now have temporary buildings on site” though more still need them.
