Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisons have had safety assessments for reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete in each of the last five years.
This information is not held centrally. The professional advice from experts on reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) has evolved over time, from advice in the 1990s that RAAC did not pose a safety hazard to more recent advice on identifying and assessing structural adequacy. The Government's approach throughout has been to follow the best technical advice. Departments have been surveying properties and depending on the assessment of the RAAC, decided to either continue to monitor the structure, reinforce it, or replace it. This is in line with the approach recommended by the Institution of Structural Engineers.