Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the update on school cladding safety checks published by her Department on 13 July 2017, what additional resources will be made available to the relevant local authorities to (a) remove ACM cladding from the school buildings on which they have been found and (b) ensure that those school buildings will be of limited combustibility.

Ensuring school buildings are safe is our top priority. Since 2015, we have committed more than £4bn to maintain and improve the condition of the school estate, including £1.4bn in 2017-18. Where remedial work is deemed necessary for schools to remain safe for continued use, we will work with local authorities and other responsible bodies to ensure that lack of financial resources will not prevent it going ahead.

The two academies where ACM cladding has been identified have been alerted to the test results. As a precautionary step, both schools have already been inspected by the Fire and Rescue Service who confirmed appropriate measures are in place to mitigate the risks from potential fire, and the buildings have now been declared safe for continued use.

The Department for Education is continuing to work closely with the schools concerned to support them and ensure all the necessary steps are taken to ensure the continued safety of the buildings.

All schools already have to follow a range of strict fire safety regulations designed to ensure they are as safe as possible and well prepared in the event of a fire. They must have robust plans to follow in the event of a fire, conduct regular fire drills, install sprinklers if an assessment deems them necessary and typically have multiple exit routes.