‘Shocking’: RIBA slams closure of 150+ schools over safety fears

About 150 schools in England could be forced to shut buildings made of Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) – a lightweight form of concrete with a short lifespan – without safety measures in place, the Department for Education (DfE) has said.

Outgoing RIBA President Simon Allford said the last-minute nature of the school closures, which come days before pupils return to schools next week, was ‘shocking’ given repeated warnings over RAAC in the school estate.

‘It’s shocking to see this advice issued, just days before schools are due to reopen,’ said Allford on his final day as RIBA president yesterday (31 August). ‘The government must now make it an immediate priority to identify the extent of remediations necessary and fund them without delay.’

Allford, who has previously called on the government to release the names of schools deemed structurally unsafe, added: ‘All young people and staff deserve to learn and work without fearing for their safety.

‘We have repeatedly raised concerns about the dangerous state of some school buildings – and the government has failed to fund desperately needed repairs.’

In an announcement yesterday (31 August), the DfE said new evidence had emerged over the summer which ‘led to a loss of confidence in buildings containing the material’.

Then followed the announcement that schools should ‘close any spaces or buildings that are known to contain RAAC to allow them to put mitigations in place’.

Some 52 schools have already received DfE assistance to take such measures.

Schools minister Nick Gibb told BBC Radio 4's Today programme today (1 September) that some reports had been received about RAAC in school buildings as late as last week, leading to the announcement that buildings should be shut just days before the start of the school term.

He added that the total number of schools affected could still rise and that the government ‘absolutely will’ cover the costs of school closures. A list of the names of schools affected will be released ‘in due course’, Gibb said.

‘So if in the worst-case scenario, we need site cabins in the school estate for an alternative accommodation, we will cover all those costs,’ he added. ‘There has been some speculation that we won’t cover those costs. We absolutely will.'

In June, the DfE said it was allocating £459 million for upgrades to 859 academies, sixth-form colleges and voluntary aided schools.

The RIBA said the funding did not go far enough and was ‘a small proportion of the amount needed’ to fix England’s schools, many of which he claimed were in ‘serious disrepair’.

An official briefing submitted to the House of Commons library in January found that, since 2009-2010, government capital spending on schools had fallen 37 per cent in cash terms and by 50 per cent when adjusted for inflation (at 2022 prices).

The report said: ‘In financial year 2021-22 capital spending by the Department for Education was around £4.9 billion; this was the lowest amount recorded since 2009-10 (in real terms 2022-23 prices).’

It did, however, acknowledge a 29 per cent real terms rise in spending for 2022-23 compared with the previous year.

A separate financial report released by the DfE in December found ‘a risk of collapse of one or more blocks in some schools’ – mainly those built between 1945 and 1970 using ‘system build’ light frame techniques.

The DfE has been approached for comment.

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