Councils ‘concerned’ by conditions of school buildings – LGA on NAO report

Responding to a report by the National Audit Office which found around 700,000 children in England are studying in schools requiring major rebuilding or refurbishment, Cllr Louise Gittins, Chair of the Local Government Association’s Children and Young People Board, said:

“Councils are very concerned by the findings of this report. It is not right that a child’s ability to do well at school is potentially jeopardised by the conditions of the building in which they study.

“To help address this, we are calling for a single, local funding pot that funds school capital projects to replace the existing fragmented system and for this to sit with councils, who should have the power to determine how and where this is best spent in their local areas.

“The fact RAAC (reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete) has been identified in 65 schools also underlines how vital it is for responsible bodies to complete the work of checking for it. Given the shortage of structural engineers with experience of identifying RAAC, it is important that the Department for Education continues to provide schools with access to people with the specialist knowledge to identify RAAC, and the funding to address any safety issues.

“As the report makes clear RAAC can be found in other buildings and we look forward to working with Government on assisting building owners to identify if they have any RAAC, and how any safety work is paid for.”