The Government ordered the full or partial closure of more than 100 schools just before the start of term amid concerns about collapse-prone Raac.
Reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete – which is a lightweight building material used from the 1950s up to the mid-1990s – is now assessed to be at risk of collapse.
The Government has been aware of public sector buildings that contain Raac since 1994 and it began monitoring their condition in 2018. Just days before the new academic year, more than 100 educational settings in England were told by the Government to fully or partially close because their buildings contain the collapse-prone concrete.
A coalition of unions wrote a letter to Education Secretary Gillian Keegan which highlighted concerns about the existence of Raac in schools – Part of the roof above the staff room at Singlewell Primary School in Gravesend, Kent, collapsed. Raac was linked to the collapse of the roof.– The Department for Education and the Local Government Association made building owners aware of a recent building component failure in a property constructed using Raac.
– The DfE asked responsible bodies – academy trusts and councils – to complete a questionnaire about the use of Raac in their schools.– The DfE started a programme where it sent professional surveyors to visit schools to assess whether Raac was present.– The DfE’s annual report for 2021/2022 highlighted that there was “a risk of collapse of one or more blocks in some schools”. The direction of travel for this risk was assessed as “worsening”.
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