Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her predecessors (a) received requests from and (b) made representations to the Chancellor of the Exchequer to discuss the (i) presence and (ii) potential cost implications of Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) within state-funded education facilities between 13 February 2020 and 5 July 2022.

It is the responsibility of those who run schools - academy trusts, Local Authorities and voluntary-aided school bodies - to manage the safety and maintenance of their schools and to alert the Department if there is a serious concern with a building. It has always been the case that where the Department is made aware of a building that may pose an immediate risk, immediate action is taken.

Ministers and officials have regular discussions with colleagues from His Majesty’s Treasury on a range of issues.

The 2021 Spending Review announced a budget of £19 billion of capital funding to support the education sector between 2022/23 and 2024/25. In addition to the Department’s targeted work on RAAC, we have continued to invest in improving the condition of schools and colleges, with over £15 billion allocated since 2015, including £1.8 billion committed for 2023/24, informed by consistent data on the condition of the estate. On top of this, the Department will transform 500 schools through the school rebuilding programme, prioritising buildings in the poorest condition and those with evidence of potential safety issues. In addition, £2.8 billion of capital investment has been allocated to further education colleges in England to transform and improve the condition of the post-16 estate, provide new places in post-16 education, and provide specialist equipment and facilities for T Levels.

The Department will spend whatever it takes to keep children safe. This includes paying for the emergency mitigation work needed to make buildings safe, including alternative classroom space where necessary, and supporting schools with remedial works which is our immediate focus. The Department is rightly focused on supporting schools and colleges. Where schools need additional help with revenue costs like transport to other locations, we are actively engaging with every school affected to put appropriate support in place. The Department will then also fund longer term refurbishment projects, or rebuilding projects where these are needed, to rectify the RAAC issue in the long term.

The Department will always put the safety and wellbeing of children and staff in schools and colleges at the heart of its policy decisions. The Government has taken more proactive action to identify and mitigate RAAC in education settings than the devolved administrations in the UK, or indeed, governments overseas.