Downing Street engulfed by RAAC concrete crisis, as affected UK schools and public buildings face closure

UK schools halted returns from summer break because of the Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) crisis – as an emergency alert was sent out in preceding days before the new academic year.

Fears of potentially hazardous building materials RAAC causing structural collapse have caused school closures around the UK, with more public buildings now deemed to be at risk too.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is under fire as to his role in the concrete crisis. As the former schools minister Nick Gibb told Sky News this morning how the Treasury's prevention led to his department being unable to rebuild more schools.

He stated: "We put in a bid for 200, but what Rishi agreed to was to continue the rebuilding programme with 50 a year". Gibb however defended the prime minister by adding that the Treasury has to "compare that with all the other priorities from right across Whitehall, from the health service, defence, and so on."

However, Sky News revealed how the Department of Education confirmed that only four schools have been refurbished under the government's school rebuilding programme since applications were launched in 2021.

Although the Prime Minister said that it is "completely and utterly wrong" the blame for the failure to fully fund the schools rebuilding programme lies with him whilst he was in charge of the Treasury. Earlier today he tweeted:

In response to the government's failure to prepare for the crisis, Labour leader Keir Starmer said how the concrete crisis was "descending into farce" and how the prime minister "bears responsibility for some of the key decisions along the way."

Starmer also expressed: "Instead of coming out today and saying, 'This is what we're going to do to fix the problem, which we have made a lot worse', you've got members of the Cabinet coming out trying to blame other people, trying to blame people within their own teams and to say, essentially, 'Put responsibility anywhere but on the government'."

Furthermore, today Education Secretary Gillian Keegan faced mockery over her social media post claiming "most schools are unaffected" by RAAC. As Labour's shadow education secretary Bridget Phillipson offered her criticism of her Tory counterpart over the concrete crisis as "utter complacency".

The National Education Union (NEU) explains how the use of the "bubbly, porous concrete" that is "prone to sudden collapse" was commonly used during the 1950s to the mid-1990s in public structures and schools. The urgency that led to the announcement of triggering the school closures on 31 August was because of a beam collapse unrelated to prior deterioration.

Finally, GOV.UK offers further new guidance on RAAC in education settings.