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Jeremy Hunt was this morning unable to say how many more schools were potentially at risk from RAAC amid reports up to 7,000 could contain the unsafe concrete.
The chancellor said the government was carrying out an “exhaustive” programme to identify more sites that may be affected as he vowed to “spend what it takes” to remove RAAC from schools.
“I don’t want to speculate on these numbers because I think that might scare people unnecessarily,” he told the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme, following reports that 7,000 schools are at risk.
The school RAAC scandal escalated overnight amid fears that asbestos could be exposed in some of the sites affected.
Asbestos and reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) often exist in the same building and at least 80 per cent of schools have asbestos present, according to The Sunday Times.
“Asbestos in schools presents a significant complicating factor in remediating issues relating to RAAC. Asbestos, once disturbed, is a serious hazard,” John Wallace, managing director of Ridgemont, a specialist estate law firm in London, told the paper.
Watch: Jeremy Hunt explains why parents were told about unsafe RAAC schools so last minute
Labour won’t commit to spending more money on schools than government
Labour has refused to commit to spending more money on building schools than the government, insisting if it forms a government it will face a "really tall order."
"We had a plan, they scrapped it, had they pressed ahead we wouldn’t be having this conversation. That’s the reality," she told the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg show.
Asked why she would not commit to spending for rebuilding schools, she said: "Because we face a really difficult situation around the economy."
She added: "The public finances are in a terrible state. The next Labour government, if we form a government, will face a really tall order, but I am confident that we will put education right back at the heart of the ambition that we have for Britain."
Ministers need to ‘come clean’ about scale of RAAC issue - Labour
Labour shadow education secretary Bridget Phillipson said the government needs to "come clean" about the problem of RAAC in schools
Speaking to Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips on Sky News, she said: "Ministers need to come clean, be upfront and be honest with parents about what we’re facing right now."
She added: "I think we need to be upfront, have that full list, and be absolutely clear about what’s going on and if we need further surveys to take place in order to determine the full scale of what’s happened then so be it."
Hunt denies pupils face ‘months’ of disruption
Jeremy Hunt denied there would be "months on end" of children unable to access classrooms but refused to give a deadline for when the disruption would be fully resolved.
Asked whether disruption to schools could last "months on end", he told the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg: "It won’t be. This problem is currently affecting around 100 schools but the majority of those are able to operate face to face."
Asked to when the problem might be fixed, he said: "What I can give you a sense of is the speed at which we’ve acted... We’ve put in place counter measures in a majority of the remaining schools."
He could not guarantee that there are not hospitals in which patients are currently not safe due to RAAC, but promised that if the government receives any information suggesting this it would take "the action that is necessary".
Hunt refuses to be drawn on 7,000 figure
Jeremy Hunt would not be drawn on reports that up to 7,000 more schools could be affected by RAAC.
He said the government would act as soon as it had information, when asked if ministers knew how many other public buildings contain the unsafe building material.
“I don’t want to speculate on these numbers because I think that might scare people unnecessarily.”
Hunt: We won’t take any risks with child safety
The government will not take “any risks” with the safety of children in schools, Jeremy Hunt has said.
The chancellor also said the government would cover the cost of removing RAAC from the schools that have been affected.
“We will spend what it takes to sort out this problem,” he told the BBC.
He added that, when any new information comes to light about the potential risk in a school, parents will be told immediately, “however awkward or difficult is”.
Hunt: We acted fast on RAAC
Jeremy Hunt has insisted the government acted “fast” to deal with the risk of RAAC.
In an interview with the BBC, it was put to the chancellor that the ministers had known about the risks for “years and years”.
He said: “I understand the frustrations..but what I would say to every one of those families is that we acted fast when the problem first arose.
“What happened in the summer months is that buildings that had been previously checked…classified as safe…the view changed.”
Hunt unable to confirm schools will get extra money to cover cost of rent
Jeremy Hunt was unable to confirm that schools having to rent out buildings to house pupils over concerns about RAAC would get extra money to cover the cost.
“We will make sure that they [headteachers] can keep their children safe,” he told Sky News.
Hunt: ‘Wrong’ to suggest we did nothing to protect schools
Jeremy Hunt has said it is “wrong” to suggest that the government has done nothing to protect schools from crumbling concrete.
The government has known since 1994 that some public sector buildings contain potentially compromised RAAC and has been monitoring their condition since 2018, following the collapse of school roof buildings.
More than 100 schools were forced to shut on Thursday evening - days before the start of the new term.
“Well I think that it is just wrong,” Mr Hunt said when it was put to him that the government “didn’t really do anything” when concerns were raised about the issue.
“The building schools for the future programme was changed and it was changed in order to reduce the cost of building more schools…so that we could spend more money on repairs to the schools in the estate.”
Hunt pushes back on suggestions government doesn’t know how many public buildings affected
Jeremy Hunt has pushed back on suggestions that the government doesn’t know how many public buildings are affected by RAAC.
It was put to the chancellor that the government was unable to say how many schools, hospitals and courts contained the unsafe material.
He said: “I don’t think that’s a fair characterisation...of what’s been happening.
“I’m telling you that what the government has been doing is an exhaustive programme of contacting every school to try and identify where the risk is and acting immediately when we find the information.”
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2023-09-03 10:07:15Z
CBMiYGh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmluZGVwZW5kZW50LmNvLnVrL25ld3MvdWsvaG9tZS1uZXdzL3NjaG9vbC1jb25jcmV0ZS1jcmlzaXMtY2xvc3VyZXMtdWstYjI0MDQwMDAuaHRtbNIBAA
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