Somerset Council 'confident' no RAAC is present in schools

More than 100 school buildings across the UK have been ordered to close by the Department for Education (DfE) after a form of concrete within the buildings, known as RAAC, was found to be “unsafe”.

The Labour group on Somerset Council used an executive committee meeting on Wednesday (September 6) to ask how many schools in Somerset contained RAAC and what was being done to keep pupils safe.

The council’s ruling Liberal Democrat administration has responded that no schools surveyed to date contain RAAC – though one Taunton academy has had to close one classroom after the material was uncovered.

Here’s everything you need to know:

What is RAAC - and why is it dangerous?

RAAC stands for reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete.

The material was widely used in roof, floor and wall construction from the mid-1950s onwards, since it was lighter and cheaper than traditional concrete and had naturally good fire resistance.

Concerns about the safety of RAAC in UK buildings began to emerge in the mid-1990s, with the Health and Safety Executive recently warning that buildings made of RAAC could “collapse with little or no notice”.

Because it can break with little notice, it is difficult to identify issues with RAAC before they emerge – leading to sudden, unexpected incidents such as the collapse of a roof at Singlewell Primary School in Kent back in July 2018.

Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt MP has pledged to “spend what it takes” to refurbish or repair schools found to contain RAAC.

Evidence has since emerged from prominent civil servants that funds made available for school repairs in England and Wales were greatly reduced by current prime minister Rishi Sunak during his previous time as chancellor.

What has Labour been calling for?

Labour politicians across the UK have been calling for government action on this matter, with party leader Keir Starmer mentioning it at prime minister’s questions in the House of Commons on Wednesday (September 6) and filing an unsuccessful motion to force the government to publish documents relating to school funding when Mr Sunak was chancellor.

The issue has also been taken up by Councillor Leigh Redman, who leads the Labour opposition group on Somerset Council and chairs the council’s children and families scrutiny committee.

He raised an urgent question on the subject when the council’s executive committee met in Taunton on Wednesday morning (September 6).

He said: “It’s become apparent over the past week that this government may have failed to issue sufficient guidance or funding to local authorities with regard to the school estate around RAAC, its potential impact on the safety of our young people when learning, and the poor oversight during the building and handover process for Haygrove School.

“The uncertainty and concern around this accumulated failure has met that some of our young people’s education is being impacted, again.

“I understand that non-local authority school properties will be the responsibility of the multi-academy trusts they sit under. I’m aware that our amazing officers have been reaching out to help where they can, despite having no responsibility to do so.”

Haygrove School was the founding school of the Quantock Educational Trust, a multi-academy trust which also includes Sexey’s School in Bruton, Spaxton Church of England Primary School near Bridgwater and Stogursey Church of England Primary School, not far from the Hinkley Point C complex.

Mr Redman represents the Bridgwater North and Central division on the council – the neighbouring division to Haygrove School and the surrounding houses.

He continued: “Could the executive members provide an urgent update on the position for local authority schools and, where known, academy schools in Somerset?

“Could you provide an indication of a current plan of action [for schools] where we have a responsibility, and for those where we do not?

“Can we understand any financial impact on the council that this situation may have – and can you please provide an indication of where in our wider estate RAAC may be present?”

Is Haygrove School affected by RAAC?

Haygrove School, on Durleigh Road in Bridgwater, had its main building condemned just days before the start of this year’s autumn term.

The relatively new main building, a “modular” construction, was only completed in October 2020, but surveys have now revealed that it cannot be opened until further notice.

The building has been “wrapped and scaffolded, surrounded by a five metre safety zone”, with pupils in Years 7, 8 and 9 not being sure when they can return on site.

Year 10 pupils will be moved to the nearby Bridgwater and Taunton College (BTC) from September 18, while Year 11 pupils returned to school on Thursday (September 7).

Councillor Tessa Munt, portfolio holder for children, families and education, clarified that this particular school’s problems were unrelated to the RAAC crisis in any way.

She said: “The closure of Haygrove School is absolutely nothing to do with RAAC. It’s a completely different situation.

“The school was handed over by the DfE to the trust in late-2020, and I believe that the trust has been raising concerns from day ones about the state of that building, its capacity and its integrity.

“We have offered significant support wherever it’s needed and we will do whatever we can within our capacity.

“We are very aware that the DfE is financially responsible, but all of us recognise the emotional impact this would have. I imagine this will take two or three years to sort out – it’s a catastrophic thing to happen.”

Councillor Gill Slocombe (whose Bridgwater West division includes Haygrove School) said: “We’re very concerned about the emotional impact on the young people, staff and parents.

“I’ll do all I can to keep up to date with everything. I’m talking to governors and the head, and we are working as hard as we can to see what we can do.”

Council leader Bill Revans added: “As soon as I found out, I was straight in touch with the CEO of the trust there to offer whatever help that we could give to that trust.

“It is a truly worrying situation that Haygrove School is in – that a building that is so new is now deemed to be unsafe for our children.

“Children’s education has been disrupted hugely by Covid and strikes, and now this.

“I’m very acutely aware that urgent action needs to be taken to make sure those young people get the best education possible.”

Who is responsible for the condition of Somerset’s schools?

Somerset Council is directly responsible for local authority maintained schools, including the condition of the buildings.

The condition of academies is the responsibility of the DfE (which provides their funding directly) and the multi-academy trust which runs them.

A small number of schools are the direct responsibility of the Diocese of Bath and Wells – usually state schools which have a ‘voluntary aided’ arrangement.

Is there RAAC in state schools in Somerset?

Responding to Mr Redman’s question, Ms Munt said that she was confident that RAAC was not present in any local authority-run schools in Somerset – though surveys on more than half of those schools are still ongoing.

She said: “When the risk of RAAC became clear at the end of the last decade, the then-Somerset County Council reviewed our school building records in line with DfE guidance at that time.

“The review concluded that there was a low probability of RAAC being present in Somerset’s local authority maintained schools.

“In the light of new guidance which came from the DfE earlier on this year, a new programme of on-site investigation began across local authority maintained schools to test the earlier studies, with the intention of demonstrating conclusively that no RAAC is present.

“This programme covers 108 of the schools for which we are responsible, and has not yet concluded – but, to date, all of the on-site surveys where they have been required have found no evidence of RAAC in local authority maintained schools.

“The latest programme was initiated early in 2023, with the first surveys on site in June this year, and we’re fully confident at this stage that there’s no RAAC present in 40 of those 108 schools.

“Survey work is well under way across a number of other sites. No RAAC has been identified at any of our 108 schools to date.”

Ms Munt said that one academy – a special needs school in Taunton – had identified RAAC within its buildings.

She said: “One academy school – Selworthy School, run by the Oak Partnership Trust – has identified RAAC in one site since the letter was initially sent.

“We expected that school to open on Thursday (September 7) to all but one class, and later on this week that school will open to that remaining class.”

Ms Munt also criticised the speculation about various schools on social media – such as the comments made by Yeovil MP Marcus Fysh regarding Milford Infants School.

She said: “In the past few days, we have had speculation about RAAC in local schools, with suggestions that it could be present in the buildings of Milford Infant School in Yeovil, Bridgwater College Academy and Brymore Academy – a number of other schools have been named as well.

“This is incorrect, and I would really like to discourage any such speculation. It really does not help teachers to teach, leaders to learn or children to learn.

“Bridgwater College Academy and Brymore Academy have assured us that their buildings have been surveyed in the last 15 months, and they are absolutely confident that there is no RAAC present in their estate.

“We are following up on the others, but we believe there’s no case for the speculation.”

When will all school surveys be finished?

Ms Munt added: “Following the change in the DfE’s risk assessment, our officers have worked with our structural engineer contractor to accelerate the survey programme.

“We are targeting the completion of initial surveys at all 108 sites over the next fortnight. Some further investigations may be necessary where structural components are more difficult to access, and these follow-up surveys may take longer to complete.

“No RAAC has been identified at any of our school sites to date, and we hope the survey programme will enable us to rule out conclusively the presence of RAAC in our schools.

“If any RAAC is identified through the remainder of the programme, we will follow DfE advice and the recommendations of our structural engineers to mitigate any risk to pupils and staff.”

How much is all this going to cost?

Despite Mr Hunt’s promise to “spend what it takes” to remove the risk of RAAC, the initial financial burden for surveys falls on the local authority.

Councillor Ros Wyke, portfolio holder for economic development, planning and assets, said: “The latest survey programme is currently forecast to cost about £80,000, but the figure is likely to increase depending on the amount of detailed follow-up investigation required.

“If any RAAC is identified, then the financial impact would increase further – though at this stage we clearly hope that won’t be the case.

“This cost is an in-year pressure on our budget – no funding for the investigation work on RAAC has been provided by the government.”

Is there any RAAC in Somerset’s council housing or other public buildings?

As part of the unitary transition process, Somerset Council is now responsible for all council housing in Somerset.

While many council houses after the Second World War were built using cheap methods, the council said there was no evidence of RAAC being present in any of the homes it managed.

Councillor Federica Smith-Roberts, portfolio holder for communities, housing and culture, said: “We own and manage 10,000 homes through our housing service – the majority of these are traditionally built houses, flats and bungalows, using well-established techniques and materials.

“Concrete slab construction methods are present in some of our housing estates, but with relatively few large blocks, we believe that the risk of RAAC being present is likely to be low.

“Additional verification work is being undertaken by our housing service just to provide assurance in this area.”

A separate scheme to replace or refurbish Woolaway properties, which were built using a different “defective” type of concrete, is currently under way in the Priorswood area of Taunton – with other schemes in the pipeline for the nearby village of Oake.

Regarding other public buildings – such as libraries and council offices – Ms Wyke said it would be some time before the results were known.

She said: “Our officers have undertaken an initial data review of over 1,000 buildings, and have commissioned some follow-up surveys as a result.

“Again, no RAAC has been identified to date. However, we have been prioritising work on schools, and it will take some time before we have a totally comprehensive view of the risk posed by RAAC in the non-school part of the estate.”