Rochford: Civil servant apologises to school over asbestos

King Edmund School has roughly 1,570 pupils aged 11 to 19

A senior civil servant has apologised for disruption at a secondary school that closed because of asbestos.

The King Edmund School in Rochford, Essex, was shut between November and late January.

The school's 1,570 students were taught off site or via virtual learning.

The Department for Education (DfE) permanent secretary Susan Acland-Hood was updating the Public Accounts Committee in Westminster on the condition of school buildings.

Ms Acland-Hood said: "To the parents and pupils at King Edmund, on behalf of the department, we are really sorry that happened in that school and we are learning lessons from it."

Susan Acland-Hood said there "may be some litigation" following the work by contractors at the school last year

King Edmund was chosen as one of 400 schools that would benefit from a government-funded rebuilding programme.

However, contractors discovered asbestos while tearing down an old building in November to make way for the new multimillion-pound two-storey block.

Ms Acland-Hood said the department usually expected contractors to conduct a "very thorough" asbestos survey before undergoing building work and said she could not reveal "very much more" because there "may be some litigation".

Head teacher Jonathan Osborn suggested students should be given dispensation with exams because of disruption

Students were taught online, with some supported by teachers at the Holiday Inn at Southend Airport.

Pupils were taught at Cecil Jones Academy in Southend in January and returned to King Edmund by the end of the month.

Head teacher Jonathan Osborn previously suggested students should be given dispensation with exams because of the disruption.

A new block is being built at the King Edmund School, funded by the DfE

Asbestos is classified as carcinogenic, which means it can cause cancer and other lung conditions when fibres are released and inhaled.

Local Rayleigh and Wickford Conservative MP Mark Francois was asking Ms Acland-Hood and her DfE colleagues about schools in England affected by asbestos and also problems with reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC).

DfE chief operating officer Jane Cunliffe said 67 schools in the rebuilding programme had experienced asbestos issues.