Schools affected by collapse-risk concrete won't should pay for repairs out of their budgets, the schooling secretary has insisted.

Gillian Keegan advised Sky News there shall be no new cash to repair the issue, however the prices shall be coated by the Department for Education (DfE)..

There has been a rising row over who can pay to select up the invoice for repairs to reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) after the federal government introduced final week that greater than 100 faculties in England must shut or partially shut due to the dangers related to it.

Labour has accused the federal government of being in "complete chaos" over the difficulty and accused the prime minister of placing lives in danger by slashing funding for varsity refurbishment when he was chancellor.

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Ms Keegan stated ministers had already procured inventory of moveable cabins for faculties that want short-term lodging - and the DfE is paying for this "directly".

She stated: "We have eight structural surveying firms who go in and do the surveys.

"We have three portacabin suppliers, so we have laid up a inventory of portacabins so that folks will be ready shortly to have the ability to do this in the event that they want short-term lodging. And we have additionally checked out a propping firm that is nationwide.

"The Department for Education will pay for all of that."

Ms Keegan couldn't say how a lot funding can be ringfenced in direction of the difficulty however admitted it was prone to value "many, many millions of pounds" - as some faculties must be rebuilt.

Asked if faculties which might be already strapped for money must discover more cash, Ms Keegan insisted: "No, we will pay for that."

Asked if the cash will come out of faculty budgets, Ms Keegan stated: "No. It's coming out of the Department for Education."

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On Sunday Chancellor Jeremy Hunt stated he would "spend what it takes" to deal with the issue, however Treasury sources later stated cash for repairs would come from the Department for Education's (DfE) present capital price range.

The authorities is dealing with strain to "get a grip" on the difficulty after admitting extra faculties could have to shut as soon as extra surveys are full.

Thangam Debbonaire, the shadow chief of the House of Commons, advised Sky News the total scale of the issue remains to be unknown and ministers should "come clean to parents, staff and pupils" and publish the checklist of colleges affected.

She stated the Tories "cancelled the building schools for the future plan" and beneath Mr Sunak as chancellor "funding for school refurbishment was halved in 2021, by which time they already knew about the RAAC."

Concerns about RAAC - a light-weight concrete used up till the mid-Nineteen Nineties - in public buildings had been raised in 2018, prompting accusations that ministers have did not act shortly sufficient.

Experts have warned that the dangers could prolong past faculties to hospitals, court docket buildings and prisons, the place the fabric is current.