More colleges with unsafe concrete might come to mild, Chancellor admits
J
eremy Hunt has admitted extra schools and public buildings with structural points might come to mild within the coming weeks.
More than 100 colleges in England have been informed to totally or partially shut as a result of they’re fitted with bolstered autoclaved aerated concrete (Raac), a concrete that might abruptly collapse.
On Thursday, the Department for Education stated it had contacted 104 colleges to advise them to shut or partially shut buildings after 52 of the 156 educational settings containing the concrete took protective steps so far this year.
There are additional fears for the state of public buildings throughout the UK after chairwoman of Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee, Dame Meg Hillier, told The Times the state of some public buildings was “jaw-dropping”.
Speaking on Sunday, Mr Hunt informed Sky News’ Trevor Phillips: “Obviously we might find new information in the weeks or months ahead.
“We will act on it. But in terms of the information that we have in front of us to date we have acted immediately. We will continue to act, we will continue to invest.”
He went additional to say the remaining 104 colleges the Government has contacted “are able to operate largely normally”.
“The Government will take action immediately when we know there is any kind of risk,” he stated.
“As soon as problems have been identified we’ve started a huge survey of every single school in the country so we could identify where these problems are.
“And I think it’s very important to reassure parents that where there is an issue as soon as we find out about it we will act.”
Later on Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg, Mr Hunt stated the Government will “spend what it takes to make sure children can go to school safely”.
Previously Education Secretary Gillian Keegan informed mother and father the closure of school rooms attributable to fears over crumbling light-weight concrete is “not a return to the dark days of school lockdowns”.
Writing in The Sun on Sunday, the Education Secretary stated there was “no choice” aside from to make closures after a “handful of cases” the place Raac had failed.
She stated: “We all have to make difficult decisions in life and responsible government is about getting them right. That means looking at evidence and acting, even when the trade-offs are significant.
“That’s the position I faced when new evidence was presented to me indicating concrete which forms part of certain school buildings was no longer safe.
“I want to reassure families that this is not a return to the dark days of school lockdowns.”