School buildings in Wokingham will be inspected for dangerous concrete after a government order this week.
The Department for Education (DfE) has ordered more than 100 schools to shut or reinforce buildings made with a certain type of concrete before the start of the school year. However, they have yet to reveal which schools, or where they are in the country.
Schools found with buildings containing reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) have been told they must introduce safety measures. These could include propping up ceilings made using concrete – or even “fully or partially” to alternative buildings while measures are installed.
Wokingham Borough Council said no schools in the borough had been found with RAAC “at present” – but that inspections would be carried out in September.
Cllr Prue Bray, the deputy leader and executive member responsible for schools in Wokingham, said the council would write to the DfE with concerns about how the government had handled the matter.
It comes as the government has been accused of acting too late – with the order made just days before schools are due to start back for the new academic year. The government had been made aware of several incidents where RAAC had failed without warning.
Government education secretary Gillian Keegan said the government was “taking a cautious approach” and that “over the summer a couple of cases have given us cause for concern.”
But National Education Union general secretary Daniel Kebede said it was “absolutely disgraceful and a sign of government incompetence” that schools were finding out that buildings were unsafe just days before term starts.
RAAC was used to construct schools and colleges between the 1950s and 1970s in the UK but has since been found to be at risk of collapse.
In total, the government said 156 schools were found to contain RAAC, of which 104 require urgent action while 52 have already received repair work. But the government has also faced criticism for not publishing the full list of schools it has ordered to be closed.
Cllr Bray said: “At present, no schools in the borough have been identified having RAAC used during their construction.
“We are following the DfE guidance to ensure that children and staff in our schools are safe and we will be arranging inspections in our Local Authority maintained schools during September.
“We have also written to academies and trusts in the borough to remind them of their responsibility to carry out similar inspections.”
She added: “We have written to the DfE expressing the council’s concern about how this has been handled.”
