Serious structural issues identified in school buildings
The Department for Education's Consolidated annual report has highlighted “serious structural issues” in school buildings.
The "risk of collapse of one or more blocks in some schools" is cited as one of the DfE's key issues.
The report says: "There is a risk of collapse of one or more blocks in some schools which are at or approaching the end of their designed life-expectancy and structural integrity is impaired. The risk predominantly exists in those buildings built in the years 1945 to 1970 which used ‘system build’ light frame techniques."
The report also says: "The impact and likelihood are unlikely to reduce in 2022, as there was no agreement to increase condition funding or the scale of the rebuilding programme at SR21."
As such, the report says that school buildings safety, as well as cyber security, have been escalated to the Civil Service Board as cross-governmental risks.
The report says that The Department provides annual condition funding to schools and those responsible for school buildings to improve and maintain the school estate and that it has opened the next round of our School Rebuilding Programme, which "will prioritise those schools for selection where there is clear evidence this risk is present."
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