School concrete – live: ‘No extra cash’ to fix collapse-prone classrooms despite Hunt’s promises

Despite Jeremy Hunt’s promises to “spend what it takes” to make classrooms safe amidst a crumbling concrete crisis, the Treasury has said there is “no extra cash” to fix classrooms prone to collapse.

Speaking on the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg show, Mr Hunt would not speculate on the potential cost of fixing the problem, but said: “We will spend what it takes to make sure children can go to school safely, yes.”

However, Whitehall sources reported that additional costs for headteachers, including transport to alternative schools and catering, will not be covered by central government, according to reports in The Guardian.

Former Home Secretary Priti Patel urged the government to offer money to schools struggling amidst the crisis, noting in an interview with The Guardian that “many of the affected schools are maintained local authority schools and single academy trusts which cannot afford the costs of repairs.”

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said on Sunday that the government will “take action immediately” on any risks in schools, as he was questioned over unsafe concrete and possible asbestos in public buildings.

Speaking to Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips on Sky News about reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (Raac), he said: “The government will take action immediately when we know there is any kind of risk.”

He added: “As soon as problems have been identified we’ve started a huge survey of every single school in the country so we could identify where these problems are.

“And I think it’s very important to reassure parents that where there is an issue as soon as we find out about it we will act.”

“We will do what it takes to make sure that children are safe,” he told the programme, adding later “we will prioritise spending money to sort out these problems where that needs to happen”.

Labour said it was concerned that plans to fund school repairs within the Department for Education’s existing budget could leave less money available for other necessary measures.

Shadow education secretary Bridget Phillipson said: “My concern is that it sounds like the government intend to fund some of the mitigation work from the existing capital budget. That could then have an impact on other measures that need to happen within schools whether it’s addressing asbestos or the wider school rebuilding programme.

“I think it would be completely unfair if the government are raiding the capital budget in order to fund these kinds of mitigations when the only reason we’re in this position in the first place is because the government hasn’t had a proper rebuilding programme”.

There is no extra funding to help schools cover the costs of fixing the concrete crisis, despite the chancellor promising to pick up the bill.

Jeremy Hunt told the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg that he would not speculate on the potential cost of fixing the issue, but insisted: “We will spend what it takes to make sure children can go to school safely, yes.”

But Treasury sources say any money must be covered by existing Department for Education budgets and not from additional funds, The Guardian reports.

Whitehall sources said schools, academies and local authorities forced to bus their pupils to alternative sites would also not be given extra cash.

Schools minister Nick Gibb said a number of instances had occurred “over the summer” where a type of concrete used in a number of schools was found to be “unsafe”.

This included a beam collapsing on school premises, despite there being no external signs it was a “critical risk”.

But what is aerated concrete, and why is it such a risk?

Because of a quirk of tradition, the summer holidays end a week earlier in Leicester than in the rest of the country.

“My understanding is they literally evacuated the place,” said parent Raj Kaur on Friday. “The first most parents knew about it was when we arrived for pick-up. All the children were out on the field. It was awful. Children were crying. My first thought was, ‘Has something terrible happened?’”

Pupils across the country will be forced to resume their studies either online or in temporary facilities after the government ordered more than 100 schools to close immediately following fears over a type of concrete, described as “80 per cent air” and “like an Aero Bar”.

Known as reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC), the potentially dangerous material was used to construct schools, colleges, and other buildings between the Fifties and mid-Seventies in the UK, but has since been found to be at risk of collapse.

Last year, construction experts warned RAAC was a “ticking time bomb” and estimated around “half” of the four million non-residential buildings in the UK were affected by the material.

So when was the material first used, when was it first flagged as a danger, and what was done about it?

Alexander Butler reports:

Obese patients are being treated on the ground floor of a hospital because of fears that floors above them made of crumbling concrete could collapse.

The shocking disclosure has been made after a group of MPs visited the hospital, built with reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC).

Labour MP Meg Hillier, chair of the Commons Public Accounts Committee, described what the MPs discovered as “jaw-dropping.”