A whole lot extra colleges might be hit by crumbling concrete row, Sunak acknowledges
H
undreds extra colleges in England might be affected by crumbling concrete, Rishi Sunak acknowledged as he confronted accusations he did not fund a programme to switch ageing school rooms.
The Prime Minister insisted that 95% of England’s colleges have been unaffected, leaving open the chance that greater than a thousand might nonetheless be impacted by issues over strengthened autoclaved aerated concrete (Raac).
Downing Street stated the whole quantity was anticipated to be within the tons of fairly than the hundreds and the overwhelming majority of colleges wouldn’t be affected.
More than 100 colleges in England have been informed they might not absolutely open simply days earlier than the beginning of the autumn time period due to security fears over the usage of Raac.
Pupils face being taught in non permanent school rooms, on completely different websites and even compelled into pandemic-style distant classes.
Mr Sunak stated: “New information came to light relatively recently and it’s important that once it had, that the Government acted on it as swiftly as possible.
“Of course I know the timing is frustrating, but I want to give people a sense of the scale of what we are grappling with here: there are around 22,000 schools in England and the important thing to know is that we expect that 95% of those schools won’t be impacted by this.”
If, as Mr Sunak stated, 5% of colleges are impacted, that may imply 1,100 are affected.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman stated : “I think the Prime Minister was providing reassurance to parents, pupils and schools that the vast majority – we believe more than 95% won’t be affected.”
He stated Education Secretary Gillian Keegan had set out that “we expect the numbers to be in the hundreds, not thousands” however “while we are still waiting on schools to return their surveys and confirm their specific situations we can’t be more definitive”.
Ms Keegan informed MPs afterward Monday {that a} listing of colleges with confirmed strengthened autoclaved aerated concrete (Raac) shall be printed “this week”.
Meanwhile, a former high official on the Department for Education advised Mr Sunak had declined a request for funding to rebuild extra colleges whereas he was chancellor.
Jonathan Slater, who was everlasting secretary on the Department for Education (DfE) from May 2016 to August 2020, stated the Treasury knew there was a “critical risk to life” if the faculties programme was not funded.
Mr Slater stated as much as 400 colleges a 12 months should be changed, however the DfE received funding for 100 whereas he was the senior official, which was “frustrating”.
But when he left the division he stated he was “optimistic” {that a} push for further funding to construct 200 a 12 months would achieve success.
He informed BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “The actual ask in the spending review of 2021 was to double the 100 to 200 – that’s what we thought was going to be practical at first instance.
“I thought we’d get it, but the actual decision that the chancellor took in 2021 was to halve the size of the programme.”
But Mr Sunak insisted that fifty colleges a 12 months was in keeping with what had taken place over the earlier decade.
He informed reporters Mr Slater’s assault on his document was “completely and utterly wrong”.
“Actually, one of the first things I did as chancellor, in my first spending review in 2020, was to announce a new 10-year school re-building programme for 500 schools.
“Now that equates to about 50 schools a year, that will be refurbished or rebuilt.
“If you look at what we have been doing over the previous decade, that’s completely in line with what we have always done.”
Shadow schooling secretary Bridget Phillipson stated: “The defining image of 13 years of the Conservative-run education system will be children sat under steel girders to stop the roof falling in.”
She stated Mr Sunak “bears huge culpability for his role in this debacle”, including: “Ministers need to come clean about the number of schools affected, what they knew, and when they knew, about the risks posed by Raac so that parents can be reassured their children are safe at school.”
Liberal Democrat schooling spokeswoman Munira Wilson stated: “This bombshell revelation shows the blame for this concrete crisis lies firmly at Rishi Sunak’s door.
“He slashed funding to repair crumbling classrooms when officials said it needed to be increased. Now children and parents across the country are paying the price for this disastrously short-sighted decision.”
Schools in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are additionally being assessed for Raac.
The Scottish Government has stated it’s current in 35 colleges, however that none poses an “immediate risk” to pupil security.
The Welsh Government stated two colleges on Anglesey which had been because of open for the autumn time period on Tuesday can be closed quickly.