Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department has made an estimate of the number of school buildings below 18 metres in height that have aluminium composite material cladding.

Following the Grenfell Tower tragedy, the Department contacted all bodies responsible for safety in school buildings in England, instructing them to carry out checks to identify any buildings which had aluminium composite material (ACM) cladding of potential concern so that they could be further investigated and any risks managed and dealt with appropriately and promptly. This work focussed on identifying buildings over 18 metres or with residential accommodation with ACM.

The Government attaches the highest priority to the safety of pupils and staff in schools. We will continue to work across government to take forward the findings from the Independent Review of Building Regulations and Fire Safety. Schools are, in general, very safe environments in this regard as they are typically occupied during the daytime and have multiple exit routes. In addition, all schools must comply with the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order (2005), including having an up-to-date fire risk assessment and conducting regular fire drills.

Details of progress to remediate buildings with ACM cladding across the country are set out in a monthly data release published by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government’s Building Safety Programme. The most recent figures are in the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/building-safety-programme-monthly-data-release-february-2019.