Wales to survey schools and colleges for faulty concrete

The Welsh government is to survey the country's schools and colleges to check if any were built with a type of concrete prone to collapse.

It comes as the UK government orders more than 100 schools, colleges and nurseries in England to immediate close affected buildings.

However the Welsh government said councils and colleges have not reported any instances of the material's use.

The Welsh Conservatives said the Welsh government "must act quickly".

Lightweight reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) was commonly used from the 1960s to the 1990s.

The Health and Safety Executive says RAAC is "now life-expired", and is "liable to collapse with little or no notice".

A Pembrokeshire hospital - Withybush in Haverfordwest - recently moved patients after the concrete was found there.

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The material was used widely across the UK, in Scotland more than 250 NHS buildings have been found to potentially contain RAAC.

A Welsh government spokesperson said: "Local authorities and further education Institutions have not reported to us any instances of RAAC being present within schools or colleges.

"We have commissioned a survey of all state funded schools and colleges which will identify any structures suspected of containing RAAC."

Welsh Conservative shadow education minister, Laura Anne Jones, said: "There is clearly a serious safety concern surrounding RAAC and any risk of injury to children here in Wales is completely unacceptable.

"The Labour education minister needs to urgently review the situation in Wales, follow the lead of the UK Conservative government and identify at-risk school buildings. We should not be on the backfoot for this."

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