Public Accounts Committee slams Department for Education for lack of basic information on reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC)

The influential Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has warned that the school estate has deteriorated to the point where 700,000 pupils are learning in a school that needs “major rebuilding or refurbishment”.

In its report the PAC described the “lack of basic information” from the Department for Education (DfE) on the concrete crisis in schools as “shocking and disappointing”.

In August this year, more than 100 schools in England were told they must close some buildings due to the risk of sudden collapse posed by reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC).

RAAC is a lightweight form of concrete which was used in schools, colleges and other building construction from the 1950s until the mid-1990s, according to a government website.

In the report published on Sunday (19 November), the PAC confirmed that at the time of its evidence session in September 2023, the DfE “could not provide basic information on, for example, how many specialist surveys to identify RAAC were outstanding, or how many temporary classrooms had been provided to schools affected by RAAC”.

The DfE also could not provide a firm commitment on when RAAC issues would be addressed, the report revealed.

The PAC warned of a “lack of certainty” on support for schools affected by RAAC, and “questions around both the reliability of the DfE’s information on the number and condition and schools affected”.

Further, the report found that the DfE has “incomplete knowledge” of the prevalence of asbestos across the school estate.

The report noted that in May 2022, the DfE agreed with PAC’s recommendation that it should “urgently” chase the 7% of schools that had not responded to the asbestos management survey it launched in 2018.

In July 2023, the DfE announced that the proportion of schools on which it was unsighted had since fallen to just over 4%. The PAC said that this still represents almost 1,000 schools.

Since 2011, around 11 teachers or ex-teachers have died from asbestos-related conditions each year, Health and Safety Executive data suggests.

The report acknowledged that the unexpected presence of asbestos had “complicated” ongoing work to address other issues such as RAAC, as the two can both be present in the same building.

The PAC has called upon the DfE to “work up a full picture of asbestos across the school estate” and to “develop a package of support and good practice, targeted at helping mitigate the negative impact on pupils and teachers of schools that are in poor condition but cannot yet be fixed”.

Dame Meg Hillier MP, Chair of the Committee, said: “A significant proportion of children in this country are learning in dilapidated or unsafe buildings. This is clearly beyond unacceptable, but overcoming the consequences of this deficit of long-term infrastructure planning will not be easy. The School Rebuilding Programme was already struggling to stay on track, and DfE lacked a mechanism to direct funding to regions which need it most. It risks being blown further off course by concerns over RAAC, and many schools in dire need of help will not receive it as a result.

“The images of classroom ceilings collapsed onto empty school desks released in recent months are not just searing indictments of a deteriorating school estate. They are chilling reminders of absolute catastrophe averted through sheer luck. Given the poor condition of so many of these buildings, the Government’s prime challenge now is to keep the safety of children and staff absolutely paramount."

A Department for Education spokesperson said: “We do not accept the Committee’s assessment - the Government has taken swift action, responding to new evidence, to identify and support all schools with RAAC to ensure the safety of pupils and teachers.

“We have now gathered questionnaire responses from all education settings in the affected eras. The vast majority have no RAAC and of those that do, most are providing face-to-face education with only a small handful providing a form of remote education for a short period.”

The spokesperson added: “We have been clear that we will do whatever it takes to remove RAAC from the school and college estate. We are working closely with schools with RAAC to ensure remediation work is carried out and disruption to learning is minimised.

“Our School Rebuilding Programme is continuing to rebuild and refurbish school buildings in the poorest condition, with the first 400 projects selected ahead of schedule.”

Lottie Winson