Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the number of children who are learning remotely as a result of school closures due to the presence of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC).

Nothing is more important than the safety of children and staff, and it has always been the case that where the Department is made aware of a building that poses an immediate risk, immediate action is taken. The Department knows how important it is for pupils to be in classrooms with their friends and teachers, but their safety must come first.

All schools where RAAC is confirmed are provided with a dedicated caseworker to support them and help implement a mitigation plan and minimise the disruption to teaching. Schools and colleges will have different amounts of space affected by RAAC, and different options available to use their space.

Departments have been asked to report on the current picture of suspected and confirmed RAAC in their estates as soon as possible. The Government published lists of education settings confirmed as having RAAC on Wednesday 6 September, and committed to providing further update. At that time, 104 schools and colleges were providing face to face teaching for all pupils. 20 settings had put in place hybrid arrangements with some pupils being taught off site. 19 settings had delayed the start of term by a few days, and 4 had needed to move to remote teaching for a short period of time.

Education is devolved and this Government has acted more decisively and proactively than any other administration in the UK.

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.

The Department began a programme working with the sector to identify and manage RAAC in March 2022, extended to colleges in December. Critical cases were advised to close and supported to implement mitigations.

Following recent evidence cases, the Department decided to take a more cautious approach for schools and colleges, so that all spaces with confirmed RAAC should close until mitigations are put in place. As for all areas of Departmental responsibilities, advice is provided on an ongoing basis.