Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of requiring schools to report to her Department when they have to close temporarily due to building issues.
Answered by Damian Hinds
Academy trusts, local authorities, and voluntary-aided school bodies are responsible for collecting and recording information about their buildings and ensuring they are safe, well-maintained and comply with relevant regulations. The department supports schools and colleges on how this should be done in the Good Estate Management for Schools guidance which is available here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/good-estate-management-for-schools.
When the department is made aware of a significant issue with a building that cannot be managed locally, additional support is provided on a case-by-case basis.
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many contracts have been awarded via the school rebuilding programme; and if she will make a comparative estimate of this figure with her Department's planned projections.
Answered by Damian Hinds
The School Rebuilding Programme was announced in 2020 and will transform buildings at 500 schools and sixth-form colleges over the next decade. It will rebuild or refurbish poor condition buildings, providing modern designs, with new buildings being net zero carbon in operation.
The department has selected 513 schools for the programme to date, and is on track to commence delivery of these schools at a rate of 50 per year. Several rebuilding projects have already completed under the programme, with many more at various stages of delivery. The department remains committed to rebuilding or refurbishing schools already selected for the School Rebuilding Programme.
The department has awarded 50 contracts. This is in line with the forecast. Details can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/contracts-finder.
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an estimate of the number of (a) pupils and (b) schools that have been unable to take part in national tests due to disruption caused by reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete in the last 12 months.
Answered by Damian Hinds
Thanks to the hard work of school and college leaders, all schools and colleges with confirmed RAAC are providing full time face-to-face education for all pupils. The department is supporting schools and colleges to keep any disruption to education to an absolute minimum.
Every case is unique and the impact on schools and colleges can be highly varied. Departmental officials work with schools and colleges to put in place a bespoke plan based on their circumstances. In some cases, there is no impact on teaching space, or it is limited to small areas. For others, mitigation plans can include using other spaces on the school site or locally until building works are carried out or temporary buildings are installed. Where some short term disruption is inevitable, all available measures will be taken to minimise disruption to teaching. From the department’s experience to date, where remote teaching was used for a period, the typical time out of school was a matter of days.
As of 20 February 2024, 2 primary schools in England were exempted from participation in one or more statutory primary assessments in the last 12 months due to areas with confirmed RAAC being taken out of use. Across the 2 schools, this impacted 355 pupils across the relevant year groups.
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made a recent assessment of the safety of school buildings constructed using block and beam concrete.
Answered by Damian Hinds
It is the responsibility of those running schools – academy trusts, local authorities, and voluntary-aided school bodies – to collect and record information about their buildings and to ensure they are safe, well-maintained and comply with relevant regulations. The department supports schools and colleges on how this should be done in the Good Estate Management for Schools guidance, which is available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/good-estate-management-for-schools.
The department does not hold a central register of construction types used in the education estate. Beam and block is one of the most common construction methods and is used across many building types. As for all construction materials, its lifespan will depend on its maintenance history and use.
Departmental officials have regular discussions with relevant professional bodies and leading material specialists to ensure they are aware of any emerging evidence regarding the safety of construction materials used in the education estate.
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the average expected design life is of schools constructed using block and beam concrete.
Answered by Damian Hinds
It is the responsibility of those running schools – academy trusts, local authorities, and voluntary-aided school bodies – to collect and record information about their buildings and to ensure they are safe, well-maintained and comply with relevant regulations. The department supports schools and colleges on how this should be done in the Good Estate Management for Schools guidance, which is available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/good-estate-management-for-schools.
The department does not hold a central register of construction types used in the education estate. Beam and block is one of the most common construction methods and is used across many building types. As for all construction materials, its lifespan will depend on its maintenance history and use.
Departmental officials have regular discussions with relevant professional bodies and leading material specialists to ensure they are aware of any emerging evidence regarding the safety of construction materials used in the education estate.
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many schools were constructed using block and beam concrete in each local authority.
Answered by Damian Hinds
It is the responsibility of those running schools – academy trusts, local authorities, and voluntary-aided school bodies – to collect and record information about their buildings and to ensure they are safe, well-maintained and comply with relevant regulations. The department supports schools and colleges on how this should be done in the Good Estate Management for Schools guidance, which is available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/good-estate-management-for-schools.
The department does not hold a central register of construction types used in the education estate. Beam and block is one of the most common construction methods and is used across many building types. As for all construction materials, its lifespan will depend on its maintenance history and use.
Departmental officials have regular discussions with relevant professional bodies and leading material specialists to ensure they are aware of any emerging evidence regarding the safety of construction materials used in the education estate.
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many school (a) sports and (b) recreational pitches have been used for temporary classrooms due to the presence of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) in main school buildings.
Answered by Nick Gibb
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many school children are learning online due to the presence of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) in their schools in each region.
Answered by Nick Gibb
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the highest number of lost learning days was in the schools in which the presence of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete was deemed to be critical.
Answered by Nick Gibb
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the number of schools that will require temporary classrooms due to the presence of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC); how many schools that require temporary classrooms due to the presence of RAAC have already received them; and what estimate she has made of the number and proportion of schools that require temporary classrooms due to the presence of RAAC will have received them by 20 November 2023.
Answered by Nick Gibb
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.