It comes as the Department for Education (DfE) is to be hauled before the Education Select Committee to explain the fiasco that has marred the start of term for thousands of children.
Around 150 schools have been forced to close buildings, with hundreds more awaiting the outcome of official assessments. Data published on Wednesday (September 6) suggests that 43 schools did not open on time this term or have been teaching some or all pupils remotely.
On Monday (September 4), it emerged that an estimated 1,500 schools have yet to complete questionnaires about whether their buildings contain reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC), a lightweight concrete that is “susceptible to failure”.
However, the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) said that it has heard from six trust and school leaders who returned their surveys months ago but still received a letter from the DfE on Monday night threatening to name and shame them if they did not complete the survey by September 8.
General secretary Geoff Barton says that this raises questions about the accuracy of the DfE’s records. In two cases cited by ASCL, the trusts have overseen a transfer of schools, perhaps implying that records have been mixed up.
Education secretary Gillian Keegan told the House of Commons on Monday that responsible bodies have submitted survey responses for 95% of schools with blocks built in the target period. On Tuesday, she voiced frustration on BBC Radio 2 with the 5% that have not responded to the survey.
Mr Barton said: “In light of what we are hearing, we would urge the DfE to review its systems to see whether at least some of these supposedly non-returned survey forms – and possibly a great many – were in fact returned but have not been recorded as such due to a technical error.
“We would also urge ministers to be very careful about pointing the finger of blame. Ms Keegan’s outbursts this week have not been helpful and have served only to further alienate a sector which already feels badly let down by the government’s appalling neglect of the school estate.
“The government has known about the risks posed by RAAC since at least 2018 and should have addressed this issue long ago rather than having to order the closure of school buildings at the last minute before a new term begins.”
A joint letter to Ms Keegan from ASCL and the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) on Wednesday (September 6) said: "Your remarks (to BBC Radio 2) failed to reveal the fact that many responsible bodies have attempted to return the survey but that the systems at the DfE have meant that it has been impossible, or that some bodies have been erroneously identified as not having made a return when in fact they have."
Meanwhile, the one-off Education Select Committee evidence session is now to take place on September 19 when MPs on the committee will grill education DfE officials.
DfE permanent secretary Susan Acland-Hood and Baroness Barran, the minister with responsibility for school capital investment, will both appear.
More than 150 schools have so far been forced to closed part of their buildings after they were deemed at risk of collapse due to the use of
A National Audit Office report last term warned that more than a third of school buildings in England are past their life expectancy with on-going concerns that hundreds have been built using RAAC.
RAAC was used in many school buildings between the 1950s and mid-1990s but only has an estimated 30-year shelf life. The DfE was first alerted to potential problems in 2018 after what was described as a "sudden roof collapse" at a school in Kent. The DfE issued a guide to identifying RAAC in 2021. This was updated in December 2022 and again last month.
However, new guidance from the DfE published on August 31 – just days before the start of the new academic year – told schools that they should “vacate and restrict access to the spaces with RAAC and ensure that they are out of use”.
These forced closures have disrupted the start of term for hundreds if not thousands of pupils. And it is expected that the figure of around 150 affected schools will grow.
It is understood that 450 schools with suspected RAAC are still awaiting official assessments, which are due to take place in the next two weeks.
Having known about the problem for five years, critics have been quick to accuse the DfE of a failure to act. Unions point to a 50% real-terms cut to capital funding since 2010 and the NAO’s report was clear that there has been a lack of investment in the school estate: “In recent years, funding for school buildings has not matched the amount DfE estimates it needs, contributing to the estate’s deterioration.”
The Education Select Committee said that its session on September 19 would be “to answer questions about the actions it is taking to end the disruption affecting schools and colleges built with RAAC”.
Committee chairman Robin Walker MP added: “I and my cross-party colleagues have heard loudly and clearly the distress and anxiety that this crisis is causing to families and staff at the 150 or more schools that are affected by RAAC. We share the feeling of urgency to establish how this situation developed, how and when it can be resolved, and what lessons need to be learnt.
“We look forward to questioning the minister and officials with oversight of capital expenditure on education settings, and testing the government on its answers to those vital questions.”
Elsewhere this week, a joint letter from education and public sector unions to Ms Keegan is also seeking “urgent answers” on what it calls the “RAAC emergency”.
The letter from unions NAHT, ASCL, the NEU, NASUWT, GMB and Unison emphasises that school leaders are not building experts and seeks advice on what schools should do if they are uncertain about the state of a building.
It also seeks assurances about the additional costs schools are incurring to make buildings safe or to set-up temporary classrooms.
The letter states: “The secretary of state stated on Monday morning that the DfE would fund revenue costs where needed. What will be the process for schools to express that need? Will this be a Covid-style emergency fund, requiring a school to be in a precarious financial position already before support is made available? Will it be repayable? Where schools are engaging structural engineers directly, will these costs be covered by DfE?”
Mr Barton added: “We continue to be very concerned about the lack of clarity over the funding arrangements for dealing with RAAC. The DfE’s guidance says that it will provide funding for mitigation works that are capital funded but not additional revenue costs such as transport.
“Schools need an assurance that capital funding covers not just the cost of mitigating immediate risks with emergency measures but the long-term cost of replacing buildings where this is necessary. Additional revenue costs must also be covered by the DfE, for example where children have to be transported to an alternative site. Schools cannot afford unbudgeted costs.”
Last year, the DfE’s annual report identified building collapse as one of six key risks facing the sector, with the risk level being raised to “critical – very likely” and labelled as “worsening”. It stated: “There is a risk of collapse of one or more blocks in some schools which are at or approaching the end of their designed life-expectancy and structural integrity is impaired.”
- DfE: Reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete in education settings, August 2023: https://tinyurl.com/mr2shwdx