Schools told to close buildings with RAAC

Schools across the country have been advised that any space or area with confirmed RAAC should no longer be open without mitigations in place.

The news comes only a few days before the start of the new school year.

A statement from the Department of Education said: "While building maintenance is the duty of councils and academy trusts, new RAAC cases have reduced the Department for Education’s confidence that school and college buildings with confirmed RAAC should remain open without mitigations in place.

"As a result, following careful analysis of new cases, the department is taking the precautionary and proactive step to change its approach to RAAC in education settings, including schools. This decision has been made with an abundance of caution and to prioritise safety of children, pupils, and staff ahead of the start of the new term."

The Department of Education pointed out that the majority of schools and colleges would be unaffected. 50 settings have already been supported to put mitigations in place, however this week, the Department of Education contacted a further 104 settings where RAAC is currently confirmed to be present without mitigations in place, to ask them to vacate spaces or buildings that are known to contain RAAC.

The Department said that the majority of these would remain open for face-to-face learning, as only a small part of the site is affected. A minority will need to relocate to alternative location.

The government has been aware of RAAC in public sector buildings since 1994, with guidance published for schools in 2018.

The Department for Education will provide support including funding for essential immediate works needed to remove any immediate risk and, where necessary, to support the provision of temporary buildings for schools and colleges affected; assigning a dedicated caseworker to each school/college affected, who will work with them to assess their particular needs and implement individually designed mitigation plans; and issuing further guidance to schools and colleges on identifying and managing RAAC.

Education secretary, Gillian 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.

"We must take a cautious approach because that is the right thing to do for both pupils and staff.

"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."

In response to the news, Daniel Kebede, general secretary of the National Education Union, 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 (1) 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.
 
“This situation will cause massive disruption to the education of thousands of children and huge inconvenience to school leaders. The blame of course lies firmly with this Government whose perpetual lack of investment in school buildings has left our school estate in such a dire state of disrepair. For months the NEU has been pressing the Government to publish a full list of schools with buildings at risk of collapse, but this has not happened.
 
“We are not confident that the Government has a proper plan to address this immediate issue with the urgency it requires, let alone the wider issue of capital funding to ensure school buildings are fit for the future. There are 156 schools with confirmed RAAC but how many more where it has not yet been identified?”

Cllr Kevin Bentley, Senior Vice-Chairman of the Local Government Association, also commented: “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.

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

“Councils will be supporting schools in their areas who have had to close affected buildings, including by providing alternative spaces. The Government should also provide councils with the necessary funding and technical expertise to repair or replace those buildings with RAAC.

“The Government also needs to provide councils with financial support where they are supporting other schools, such as academies and faith schools, which have had to close buildings due to the presence of RAAC.

“This includes our call for a single, local funding pot to replace the existing fragmented system for school capital projects and for this to sit with councils, who should have the power to determine how and where this is best spent in their local areas.”