The Department for Education’s lack of “a good enough understanding” of school building safety has been branded as “extremely concerning” by MPs in a damning report published today.
MPs on the Commons Public Accounts Committee (PAC) said it was “shocking and disappointing” that the DfE could not provide basic information to questions - such as the number of specialist reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) surveys done - when the department gave evidence in September.
The PAC has made a series of recommendations alongside its criticisms of the DfE’s record in its second report into the condition of school buildings, with a particular focus on the RAAC crisis in schools.
The report warns that many schools will not get on to the School Rebuilding Programme (SRP), even though it would be cheaper to rebuild them in the long term due to their poor condition.
MPs made this warning after the DfE told them that schools with severe RAAC issues would likely be prioritised for the remaining 100 slots on the programme.
The report also warns of a North-South divide in the condition of school buildings as those in the north are generally in higher need of repair.
Such schools tend to be concentrated in rural and coastal areas, but the DfE does not currently have any mechanism for directing capital funding towards higher-need areas, the report warns.
Inadequate buildings
Speaking to Tes on the eve of the report’s publication, PAC chair Dame Meg Hillier said school leaders are “having to really juggle very difficult budgets, both capital and revenue” and warned that the “chickens coming home to roost....as a result of a massive lack of investment in our school estate for many years”.
She said: “There is a plan to deal with schools in the worst condition but there are 700,000 children in schools that are inadequate - and that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
“Those remaining [schools] are being held back in the school rebuilding programme as RAAC is putting them way back in the queue. So all these children will go through their whole school career in inadequate buildings. It’s not fair on the young people in there.”
The DfE has promised to fund all capital costs associated with RAAC and all reasonable revenue costs, but the PAC report says that the DfE told MPs that schools with high reserves would be expected to fund costs for mitigation measures themselves, such as for portable classrooms.
Dame Meg said it is “beyond unacceptable” that around 700,000 children are learning in unsafe buildings.
She added that the SRP “risks being blown further off course by concerns over RAAC, and many schools in dire need of help will not receive it as a result”.
DfE must provide answers
The DfE has still not set out any “financial or practical commitments” to mitigate RAAC as made by the Department for Health and Social Care, the report says. It also calls for the department to write to MPs to set out plans.
Dame Meg told Tes she would expect the DfE to respond to its call by March next year, or be pulled back before the committee.
She said the PAC will “keep looking for answers” and will work with MPs on the Commons Education Select Committee “as appropriate to do that”.
Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: “We are gravely concerned that when the government eventually gets around to permanent solutions for affected schools, it will do so at the expense of other schools that desperately need upgrading instead of taking the action that is patently necessary to substantially improve capital funding in general.”
Outstanding issues with school buildings
The PAC report sets out 10 recommendations for the DfE to tackle outstanding issues with school buildings. They state that the DfE should:
- Urgently assess RAAC questionnaire and survey inaccuracy risk, and expedite and publish its surveys for suspected RAAC.
- Make clearer how much risk it will accept across the school estate and make clear when it plans to have RAAC eradicated.
- Re-examine its process for funding temporary mitigation measures.
- Write to the PAC with updates on the scale of the RAAC crisis, the plan to deal with it and how much this will cost.
- Provide evidence it fully understands asbestos across the entire school estate.
- Develop a support package within the next year to help schools mitigate the impact of buildings in poor condition on pupils and teachers.
- Set out a strategy responsible bodies can use to make sure repairs have more value for money in the long term.
- Assure the PAC that it understands current and future challenges to the timetable and costs of the SRP.
- Review financial allocations to help reduce variation in the condition of buildings regionally.
- Consider how the condition of the school estate intertwines with school place needs locally.
‘Government failing to honour promises’
General secretary of the NAHT school leaders’ union, Paul Whiteman, again urged the government to make proper funding for school buildings a priority in the Autumn Statement.
“There is no clear timetable for how long current disruption will continue, let alone for when all RAAC will be identified and removed,” Mr Whiteman said.
“The government is failing to honour its promises to be fully transparent and provide regular data on the scale of the problem and progress in mitigating and tackling it.”
He added that the NAHT is increasingly concerned about the impact of this on education, especially for children to take exams.
The NEU teaching union general secretary, Daniel Kebede, also called for the government to prioritise school building safety in its funding plans.
DfE says it took ‘swift action’
A spokesperson for the DfE said it does “not accept the committee’s assessment”, adding it had “taken swift action, responding to new evidence, to identify and support all schools with RAAC to ensure the safety of pupils and teachers”.
The spokesperson added: “We have now gathered questionnaire responses from all education settings in the affected eras. The vast majority have no RAAC and of those that do, most are providing face-to-face education with only a small handful providing a form of remote education for a short period.
“We have been clear that we will do whatever it takes to remove RAAC from the school and college estate. We are working closely with schools with RAAC to ensure remediation work is carried out and disruption to learning is minimised.
“Our School Rebuilding Programme is continuing to rebuild and refurbish school buildings in the poorest condition, with the first 400 projects selected ahead of schedule.”
