Parents tell of shock as concrete fears force school closures

1. Parents have spoken of their shock and anger after learning their children's schools are to close buildings over concrete safety fears
2. They have criticised the timing of the announcement, made days before the new term begins
3. The schools minister has warned that the number of schools forced to close buildings because they contain crumbling concrete could rise
4. Nick Gibb says 156 schools in England are affected so far - but the government will not publish a list until schools have let parents know
5. Earlier, he told the BBC that a beam collapse over the summer prompted the government to tell schools not previously deemed at high risk that they may need to close buildings
6. The National Education Union says the timing of the warnings is "absolutely disgraceful" and "a sign of gross incompetence"
7. Labour has urged ministers to "come clean" and publish a list of the schools with buildings made from aerated concrete

Five key takeaways from today

PA Media

This school in Leicester has had its stairs taped off due to an RAAC ceiling

After yesterday's announcement that more than 150 schools in England needed to urgently address the presence of unstable concrete known as RAAC in their buildings, today has brought some clarity on the scale of the situation.

Here's what we've learned:

1. Buildings at more than 50 schools in England could be at risk of sudden collapse. As many as two dozen schools will be closed entirely. No comprehensive list has been published but we are keeping track here
2. The urgent action being taken in England has triggered concern in Scotland, Wales and NorthernIreland
3. The UK government has said it will fund the cost of temporary buildings on sites of schools forced to close
4. The directive for schools to close down was triggered by a concrete beam - which showed no sign of being unsafe - collapsing in a school over the summer
5. Other public buildings including courts and hospitals were also constructed using RAAC, and many are also in need of remedial work or repair

We're going to end our live coverage here, but there's plenty more:

• Keep up to date with our main story here
• Still have questions? Read this
• Missed this story so far? Catch up in our simple guide here

We're playing catch-up - structural engineer

Tom Symonds

Home Affairs Correspondent

BBC correspondent snaps RAAC

Warren Thomas, a structural engineer in Welwyn Garden City, has been showing me how a chunk of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) can simply be snapped in his fingers.

RAAC is light and easy to mould into panels for floors and ceilings. A grid of steel bars is set into the panels to stop them bending or snapping.

But, he says, the tiny holes in the material allow water in, which corrodes the steel. This can be hard to spot because the material does not display obvious cracks, unlike normal concrete.

Add to that the challenge that the RAAC panels are often covered with wood or plaster.

Warren believes this material can be safe, but needs to be maintained and inspected. This task is now a growing part of his business.

But despite the collapse of part of a school in 2018, it is only in the last year that the requests have started to come in. As a result, he says, “we’re playing catch-up.”

The latest on the affected schools

Throughout the day we've learnt more about various school buildings closing due to safety fears over concrete.

So far, the BBC has learnt 156 schools in England are affected by the bubbly concrete RAAC, but the government is not publishing a list until schools have let parents know.

In the meantime, the BBC has been compiling its own list here.

BBC Verify

How much has the government spent refurbishing schools?

Earlier, schools minister Nick Gibb told the Today programme: “We’re spending £15bn of capital, just since 2015, on maintaining and improving the school estate.”

That actually slightly underestimates government spend on refurbishing and rebuilding schools.

The £15bn - or about £1.7bn a year - is the school capital funding, which covers “maintaining and improving the condition of school buildings and grounds”.

On top of that, the department has been spending about £0.6bn a year on rebuilding schools. This is set to increase over the next few years as the Schools Rebuilding Program gets under way.

However, all this is significantly less than the amount the Department for Education itself says it needs to bring school buildings up to scratch.

The department said in 2020 it would need £4bn a year for repairing, maintaining and rebuilding schools over the next five years.

And that figure is at the low end of what the Office for Government Property say is required: they estimate the figure needed is somewhere between £4bn and £8bn.

More schools announce closures

Parents have been sending us some of the letters sent to them from their children's schools to inform them of closures due to building safety fears.

The schools include:

• Honywood School, Colchester, Essex
• Wyburns Primary School, Rayleigh, Essex
• St Teresa’s Catholic Primary School, Darlington
• Carmel College, Darlington
• The Billericay School, Essex
• Scalby School, Scarborough
• Aylesford School, Warwick

Meanwhile, Blackpool Council says it is "business as usual" for students as all schools in the seaside resort will reopen as planned following the summer break.

The council added that parents at Bispham Endowed C of E Primary School may have received a notification that the school hall has been closed as a precautionary measure, but pupils should still attend as normal.

'Like a concrete Aero bar': The problem with RAAC

Missed all the concrete drama? Get up to speed in under two minutes as Colin Meikle, an architect associate with BDP in Glasgow, describes what RAAC is, the problem with it is, and why and when it was used:

RAAC ‘is like a concrete Aero bar’

35 Scotland schools affected by RAAC - education secretary

PA Media

Scotland’s secretary for education Jenny Gilruth has confirmed that 35 schools are affected by the presence of lightweight concrete known as RAAC in campus buildings.

Speaking to Drivetime on Radio Scotland, Gilruth assured listeners that "our schools are safe", adding that this is a "not a new thing" and that they have been working on the issue for months with local partners.

She added that the decision taken by the UK’s education department was different to the guidance from the Institution of Structural Engineers - which is the advice Scotland would continue to adhere to, saying the government there would not close down its schools.

Scotland may reconsider its current approach if the UK government proved why they had put hundreds of school buildings out of bounds in England, she said, adding that "our children’s safety in our schools is paramount".

She said local authorities would be responsible for telling parents and students if that happened.

She added that reports of a collapse in a school in Scotland were inaccurate, instead suggesting officials were called to secure part of an unnamed MoD school.

BBC Verify

Which public buildings in England are known to have RAAC?

While the focus is currently on schools, the government told us it has also been surveying other buildings to see whether they have RAAC issues with their infrastructure.

The Department for Health and Social Care says there are 24 hospital sites in England where the weaker concrete was confirmed to be present. Seven of them are in line for full replacement.

Separately, seven NHS sites managed by NHS Property Services - which runs buildings including some care centres, GP surgeries and hospitals - have been found to have RAAC, with work on five of those already completed.

But the organisation is still awaiting results of checks by landlords on another 34 sites in its portfolio.

There are seven courts affected in surveys. Harrow Crown Court has been closed as a result.

A government spokesman said surveys of buildings were ‘ongoing’ and added: “Departments have been surveying properties and, depending on the assessment of the RAAC, decided to either continue to monitor the structure, reinforce it, or replace it. This is in line with the approach recommended by the Institution of Structural Engineers.”

Why is RAAC dangerous?

RAAC - which stands for reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete - is a cheaper and lightweight form of concrete. It is more dangerous than the standard for several reasons:

• It's aerated structure means moisture can seep in and weaken the material, making it more susceptible to collapse
• This also means that the steel reinforcements within the panel are not well-protected against rusting
• The steel supports also may not extend far enough to hold the weight of the slab, making it more fragile
• RAAC is commonly used in ceilings, floors and walls

BBC

Parents of children at 156 crumbling schools have all been told - education minister

Lady Diana Barran, an education minister, says if parents haven’t been contacted by now then their child's school isn't one of the 156 so far identified as having a problem with its concrete.

She told BBC local radio earlier today: “If you’re a parent and you’re listening to this show and you haven’t yet been informed by your school that means your school has not got this reinforced concrete and you just go ahead as normal next week.

“I’m sure many schools will be contacting parents anyway just to re-assure them even if they don’t have the concrete and that’s absolutely right, but we felt it’s really important that the schools that have got the concrete communicate directly with the parents in their school and can explain to them their plans which will obviously evolve over the weekend and next week.”

When asked about the risk to children, she added she was “very happy” for her grandchildren to attend school next week.

Although 156 schools have been confirmed to have it in England, that number could go up as more surveys are carried out, and we don't yet have confirmation of numbers in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

'Kids are facing more obstacles'

Insaf Abbas

BBC News

St Leonard's Catholic School in Durham is one of the schools having to close after RAAC panels were identified on its premises.

In a statement, the school's Trust said it was left with no choice but to "put emergency measures in place", adding that it would try to keep impact to a minimum.

Medi's son was due to start sixth form at the school on Monday.

She's frustrated about the timing of the announcement - and questions why action wasn't taken over the summer, when the building would have been empty.

"It's disgraceful that the problem has unfolded in this way," she told me.

"The kids who missed out because of Covid are now facing more obstacles to their education because of the way this has been handled."

Start of term is going to be difficult, says Priti Patel

BBC

Former home secretary Dame Priti Patel has told the BBC she would “have liked” schools affected by RAAC safety fears to have been identified “much earlier”.

The Witham MP was one of a number of MPs and local authority representatives to meet with housing minister Baroness Barron in Essex on Friday.

“This is a deeply concerning time for everyone involved and inevitably it is a time when there’s going to be a great deal of anxiety for parents, pupils and teachers.

“We have some very significant issues here right now. The start of the school term is going to be quite difficult," she said.

How will school repairs be funded?

Ione Wells

Political correspondent

PA Media

The UK government has said it will fund the cost of temporary buildings on sites of schools forced to close buildings due to safety fears around RAAC.

A caseworker from the Department for Education will work with each school affected in England to assess what repairs may be needed.

The understanding in government is that some schools may only need minor repairs - for example, to a couple of roof panels, whereas others may need much more significant rebuilding.

The government has not announced new money to fund repairs as yet, but it is expected caseworkers will help identify how this should be done.

Some school repairs may be funded through the government's existing School Rebuilding Programme.

There are still 100 out of 500 schools that have not been allocated funds for rebuilding through this scheme.

The BBC understands some of the 400 that have been allocated monies already had RAAC present in buildings that needed to be replaced.

Some school repairs may also be funded through annual School Capital Funding.

This is money allocated every year by the Department of Education for capital investment to maintain and improve the condition of school estates.

'It's frustrating because it's so last-second'

BBC

Sam Fitzjohn daughter’s school, Katherines Primary Academy in Harlow, is one of those affected by the newly announced closures.

“It just seems a bit frustrating because it seems to be last-second, they decided, ‘oh no the building’s not safe, it’s not sound - we need to give it another week or so,’” he tells the BBC.

“For some of us that are working, we’ve got to work around work, as well as organising children.

“If it was at the beginning of the holiday and they said, ‘look, we’ve found this problem and it might take longer’ we might have had time to plan around it.’”

Parents back to juggling home work and homework

BBC

Martina Eliasova’s six-year-old daughter was meant to start year two at Katherines Primary Academy in Harlow next week.

She first heard via a mums' WhatsApp group that the school was going to be affected by closures.

The school subsequently emailed parents saying the start of term would be pushed back until 11 September. Thereafter lessons would take place in an annexe, while some children would have to attend lessons at other schools.

“I was a bit shocked. I can work from home, if I can - it’ll be difficult because she’s only six,” she tells the BBC.

“I’m from Slovakia, I don’t have family here. I can’t say ‘mum, can you help my daughter?’ I have to either take holiday, or just have her home and somehow battle through.”

She's frustrated because there were six weeks of summer holidays when remedial work might have taken place, but the school says it has only just found out about the building safety concerns.

Other parents at the school can’t work from home, she says: “Maybe I’ll help out and have some of the kids in my house, I don’t know.”

'This is an absolute disgrace!' - parent

Wendy in Cumbria contacted the BBC on Thursday saying the head teacher at her son's school had informed her that four corridors, the library and sports hall are all affected by RAAC.

"This is an absolute disgrace!" she said. "Why has it taken until the end of the summer holidays to bring this to the table? We are in shock!"

The school has instituted an inset day on the first day that students were meant to be back.

Wendy said she is sorry for all the students and the teachers who must deal with this situation, adding that the government "has some serious questions to answer".

BBC Verify

Why does the NEU say there is a £35bn shortfall in schools' refurbishment funding since 2010?

The general secretary of the National Education Union (NEU) told BBC Breakfast that the government had “slashed the schools building budget”.

“Total under-investment over the past 13 years stands at £34.8bn”, Daniel Kebede said.

The NEU says if that budget had been held at the level set in last few years of the Labour government and kept up with rising prices, it would have averaged about £2.7bn more each year – or a total of almost £35bn over the 13-year period.

This figure doesn’t just cover schools but also nurseries, universities and the department itself, as well as other investments such as IT systems.

The independent Institute for Fiscal Studies told us that it is fair to say that this type of spend has fallen since 2010.

The Department for Education’s own records also suggest that it has led to “under-investment” in repair and rebuilding, although not by as much as claimed by the NEU.

Back in 2020, the department said it needed £4bn a year over five years to start to bring schools up to scratch, and even more after that, once school rebuilding programmes get under way.

However, they have been given less: only £3 billion a year for the past two years.

School situation has been dealt with 'awfully' - parent

Ross, a 41-year-old father of two from Essex, is "livid" about the whole situation.

He heard nothing over the summer holiday from Hockley Primary School where his children go, but was suddenly told last week that his kids would have to be sent somewhere else.

"My youngest is in a class with 60 children in a room designed for 30", he says, adding that the teacher is unable to even get to the other side of the room.

"The whole situation has been dealt with awfully and I am livid."

WATCH: 'It's disruptive but you can't take chances'

Parent Jane Frances says you can't take chances with children's safety

Parents and pupils have given their reaction to the partial closure of their school, the Corpus Christi primary in Brixton, south London, after RAAC was found in some parts of the building.

Some of the children have been told they will be attending classes at another school.

'Difficult conversation' over special needs school closure

Alamy

Parents of children with special needs have been told their school in Southend will be shut next week.

The head teacher of Kingsdown School told the PA news agency she had to have "difficult conversations" with families of children who have physical and learning disabilities.

Louise Robinson said: "We're hoping that a solution can be found that allows us to open the school, at least partially, but that entirely relies on ensuring the safety of our pupils and staff, and approval by DfE."

Pupils at the school require special equipment housed in the main building, which currently cannot be used.

Local councillor Lydia Hyde described the situations as "awful", especially for the pupils for whom "change can be detrimental".