Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment his Department has made of the potential prevalence of RAAC in buildings (a) owned and (b) occupied by departmental staff; and whether he has had discussions with local authorities on the potential prevalence of RAAC in local authority- (i) owned and (ii) occupied buildings.

Individual building owners and managers continue to be responsible for health and safety, including responding to safety alerts such as RAAC.

Building owners must address safety risks of all kinds in their buildings through a risk-based, proportionate and evidence-based approach. On the 1 May 2019, the Standing Committee on Structural Safety issued a safety alert on the failure of RAAC planks. Local authorities, like other building owners, are advised to follow available professional guidance.

The Local Government Association has advised members to check whether any buildings in their estates have RAAC, to ensure it can be identified, assessed, and responded to accordingly. This is accessible on the LGA website and in line with the guidance from the Institution of Structural Engineers. If further buildings are identified as having suspected or confirmed RAAC, building owners and managers should follow the guidance to put appropriate mitigation in place.