Commenting on the rise in the risk alert level over school
buildings collapsing, from "critical - likely" to "critical -
very lively", Kevin Courtney, Joint General Secretary of
the National Education Union, said:
"The government has known for some time now that the state of
disrepair in some schools is 'a risk to life'. This was made
clear in a document that was leaked in May 2022, more than a
decade after tore up the strategy for
regenerating school properties. It is sadly yet another syndrome
of a short-sighted administration that schools are being allowed
to fall further into disrepair. Parents might reasonably have
trusted government to ensure safe environments for their
children, but that belief is now shattered.
“The DfE Annual report acknowledges that the risk of building
collapse is most acute in those 'system built' buildings
constructed between 1945 and 1970, which are those which are most
likely to be riddled with asbestos, further compounding the
gravity of the situation, should a collapse
occur.
"We must urgently know which schools are most at risk, whether
the leaders of those schools have been informed, and what
timescale is in place to put right this situation. As a rich
nation we should at the very least expect government to do enough
to maintain the security of school buildings, but the funding gap
remains enormous. The current government has halved capital
spending on schools since 2010 and that is leading to real
problems for our children."
