Essex praised for concrete crisis job by education secretary

Gillian Keegan praised Essex County Council for the way it was dealing with the number of its schools that featured RAAC

The education secretary has praised a council for its response to the RAAC school concrete crisis.

Speaking in the Commons, Gillian Keegan said Essex County Council "has done an amazing job".

She was answering a question from Witham MP Priti Patel who asked for assurances that schools would be reimbursed for their costs in moving children to other schools.

About 50 schools in the county have been affected.

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During parliamentary business on Tuesday evening, Gillian Keegan highlighted the council and said "they've answered their questionnaires in great detail and are very much gripping this issue".

"We are working closely together," she added.

Schools across the UK that are built using RAAC (reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete) are having to assess whether buildings are safe following concerns about the concrete.

Honywood School in Coggeshall said only year seven and year 11 pupils would be taught in person during the first two weeks of term, while other year groups were being provided with tablets ready for remote learning from 14 September

Dame Priti, the former Conservative Cabinet minister, asked for Ofsted schools standards inspectors to take any disruption into account when assessing schools.

Bernard Jenkin, the Conservative MP for Harwich & North Essex, told MPs that with eight confirmed cases and two others under investigation he had more affected schools in his constituency than any other MP.

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Vicky Ford, the Conservative MP for Chelmsford, warned MPs to think about the language they use when talking about RAAC so as not to frighten children.Ms Keegan said she would set up a special working party with Essex MPs given the number of cases in the county.

Stephen Metcalfe, the Conservative MP for South Basildon & East Thurrock, asked for assurances that schools would have any additional costs reimbursed "so that budgetary concerns will not be a barrier to delivering face-to-face education that our children so richly deserve?".

Ms Keegan said: "We will certainly support any school with additional funding as is required."

Mark Francois, the Conservative MP for Rayleigh and Wickford, told Ms Keegan that "there are differences between what I have been told by her department and the ground truth".

He said Hockley Primary was promised before the end of last term that it would get eight mobile classrooms ready to go this week.

They will now not arrive until November.

The education secretary said soft ground was proving a problem.

RAAC was used in public buildings between the 1960s and 1980s and has an expected lifespan of 30 years.

The Department for Education said it had been aware of problems with RAAC since 1994 and advised schools in 2018 to implement "adequate contingencies".