Grants for East Lancs schools to remove dangerous concrete

St James Church of England primary in Haslingden, and Knuzden’s St Oswald’s Church of England Primary Academy, are among 100 schools across the country which have been identified as having collapse-risk concrete and are therefore eligible for help under the new scheme.

The Department for Education (DfE) has published details on how it will permanently remove reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (Raac) from all the affected schools and colleges across England.

It comes after a school leaders’ union called on the government to provide more financial support to schools facing ongoing issues as a result of Raac.

A total of 234 education settings in England have been identified as having Raac in some areas of their buildings, which is a slight rise on 231 from November 27.

The DfE has said that 119 of these schools will have one or more buildings rebuilt or refurbished through the government’s School Rebuilding Programme as works to remove Raac are more extensive or complex.

A further 110 schools and colleges – where works will typically be smaller in scale – will receive a grant to help them remove Raac from their buildings – this includes the primary schools in Knuzden and Haslingden.

Five schools and colleges have alternative arrangements in place to address the removal of Raac, the DfE said.

St Oswald’s is a member of Cidari Multi Academy Trust, which found RAAC on-site after tests were sought out by the school.

In October, Matt McIver, chief operating officer at Cidari Multi Academy Trust, said: "During proactive invasive sampling and laboratory testing commissioned by the Trust, RAAC was identified in an area of the school which was extended in the 1970's.

"Following Department for Education guidance, the affected areas were removed from use and we are working with the Department and our own contractors to address the issue.

"In the meantime, the wider school buildings are unaffected, and through temporary repurposing of spaces, all pupils continue to be taught on site.

"We have kept parents and carers reassured and updated since the problem was identified and will continue to do so as the situation is managed over the coming weeks."

In Lancashire, just four schools have been identified as having Raac present in their buildings.

These include Bispham Endowed Church of England Primary School in Blackpool, and Our Lady’s Catholic High School in Preston, which are eligible for the School Rebuilding Programme.

Our Lady's saw the start of their September term delayed due to the issue. 

Education secretary Gillian Keegan said: “Nothing is more important to me than the safety of every child and member of staff in school.

“We will continue to work closely with schools and colleges as we take the next step to permanently remove Raac from affected buildings.”

The DfE has said its Raac identification programme is now complete as 100 per cent of schools and colleges with blocks built in the target era have responded to their questionnaire.

Earlier this week, Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), sent an open letter to the education secretary calling for schools with Raac to be exempt from Ofsted inspections until they were “fully operational”.

A school or college that has confirmed Raac on site will be eligible for an inspection this term, but they can ask for an inspection to be deferred.

In a letter to Ms Keegan, Mr Barton said managing Raac was still creating “major issues” for schools – including lack of access to specialist equipment and limited or no catering facilities.

Last month, the ASCL called on Chancellor Jeremy Hunt to introduce in his spring Budget a new recovery funding stream – which could be used for catch-up provision – for all the schools affected by Raac.

The union warned in its submission to the Treasury that an “unacceptable” wait for mitigation works at Raac-affected schools meant parents were withdrawing their children and moving them to different schools, and applications for September 2024 for these affected schools were down.

Following the DfE’s announcement on Thursday, Mr Barton said: “We welcome this much-needed clarity on the nature of the work to remove Raac from the schools and colleges affected.

“This is an important step, but it is only one step towards solving this crisis and a number of unanswered questions remain.

“Given the severe pressures on the school estate as a whole, we need assurances that this work will be funded wholly through additional capital expenditure and money will not be diverted from other sources.

“There must also be clear timelines set out for when this work is going to be completed.

“We continue to urge the government to provide better support for schools while they wait for Raac to be removed, including through the introduction of a new recovery funding stream to enable catch-up provision for pupils whose learning has been impacted.”

Paul Whiteman, general secretary of school leaders’ union the NAHT, said: “This announcement doesn’t contain any new money from the Treasury, but it does set out how those schools currently identified as being affected by Raac will receive the costs they require for the building work needed to fix it. That will be welcome information for those schools.

“However, there is still a concern that we don’t know the full extent of all the schools affected, as not all surveys have been completed successfully.

“And while dealing with Raac is crucial, we really need to see more ambitious investment from the government in bringing the schools estate up to scratch overall – from Raac, to asbestos, to general disrepair – they need a plan to tackle all school building issues before they become the next big crisis. That can’t happen without more money from the Treasury.”

Catherine McKinnell, shadow schools minister, said: “After many months of inaction and delay, with children learning in draughty Portakabins and bused to neighbouring schools, it appears the Government may finally have woken up to the need to deal with this crisis.

“The unacceptable delays are symptomatic of a Conservative Government that simply does not prioritise the education and needs of children.

“Ministers still have questions to answer about the timetable for completion of these works to finally bring an end to this chaos.”