Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she will set out the nature and amount of financial support which her Department plans to provide to cover the associated costs for mitigation and transitional requirements in terms of (i) revenue funding and (ii) capital funding in the context of schools where reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) is understood to be present and to pose a risk to staff and students if unmitigated.

This Government has taken more proactive action on RAAC than any other in the UK.

We have acted decisively and proactively to tackle this issue. The Office of Government Property wrote to all Government Property Leaders in 2019, and again in September 2022, highlighting safety alerts on RAAC and signposting guidance on identification and remediation. The Government also created a cross-Government working group on RAAC this year to collectively address the issue. Since then, Departments have been surveying properties and depending on the assessment of the RAAC, decided to either continue or monitor the structure, reinforce it, or replace it. This is in line with the approach recommended by the Institute of Structural Engineers.

Departments have been asked to report on the current picture of suspected and confirmed RAAC in their estates as soon as possible.

Guidance to schools since 2018 has been clear about the need to have adequate contingencies in place for the eventuality that RAAC-affected buildings need to be vacated at short notice.

The Department for Education began a programme working with the sector to identify and manage RAAC in March 2022, extended to colleges in December.

Following careful analysis of recent cases, the Department took a precautionary and proactive step has been taken to change the approach to RAAC in education settings ahead of the start of the academic year.

The Government published lists of education settings confirmed as having RAAC on Wednesday 6 September and committed to providing further updates. The list is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/reinforced-autoclaved-aerated-concrete-raac-management-information.

The Department has increased the survey rate, ensuring any setting that suspects RAAC is surveyed imminently. The vast majority of schools surveyed to date have been found to have no RAAC.

All settings that inform the Department via their questionnaire response that they have suspected RAAC are being fast-tracked for surveying and the aim is to have all education settings currently suspected as containing RAAC surveyed in a matter of weeks.

While some short-term disruption is inevitable, all available measures will be taken to minimise disruption to pupil learning and ensure that pupils continue to receive face-to-face teaching.

The Department will fund mitigation works that are capital funded, including installing alternative classroom space where necessary. Where schools and colleges need additional help with revenue costs, like transport to locations or temporarily renting a local hall or office, the department will provide that support for all reasonable requests. Longer-term refurbishment projects, or rebuilding projects will also be funded where these are needed, to rectify the RAAC issue in the long term.

The Department will always put the safety and wellbeing of children and staff in education settings at the heart of its policy decisions. The Government has taken proactive action to identify and mitigate RAAC. The Department is leading the way in identifying RAAC in education buildings to ensure that students and staff stay safe. The Department has published guidance for affected settings available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/reinforced-autoclaved-aerated-concrete-guidance-for-responsible-bodies-and-education-settings-with-confirmed-raac.