Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of School and
College Leaders, will today be writing to Education Secretary
calling for clarification
on a number of issues arising from the RAAC crisis.
He said: “The Education Secretary this morning said on BBC Radio
4’s Today programme that 1,500 questionnaires sent to schools
asking for information about whether RAAC might be present are
outstanding and have not been completed. We need to know what the
Department for Education is now doing to chase up those
questionnaires as a matter of the utmost urgency. These
questionnaires were sent out before the crisis erupted over the
past few days and we are not blaming the schools concerned.
However, it is now incumbent upon the DfE to gather this
information as soon as possible so that staff, parents and
children can be fully confident that the DfE has a full picture
of the presence of RAAC and is taking the appropriate action
where necessary.
“We continue to be very concerned about the lack of clarity over
the funding arrangements for dealing with RAAC. The DfE’s
guidance says that it will provide funding for mitigation works
that are capital funded but not additional revenue costs such as
transport. Schools need an assurance that capital funding covers
not just the cost of mitigating immediate risks with emergency
measures but the long-term cost of replacing buildings where this
is necessary. Additional revenue costs must also be covered by
the DfE, for example where children have to be transported to an
alternative site. Schools cannot afford unbudgeted costs.
“We are also concerned about reports that the funding for this
issue will come from the DfE’s existing capital budget. It is
likely that this would put pressure on the existing programme of
repairs and refurbishment. Capital funding has been cut by 50% in
real terms since 2010 and needs to be increased rather than
squeezed further. The DfE’s former permanent secretary has today told the Radio 4
Today Programme that the Treasury under refused to fund the number of
school rebuilding projects identified by the DfE despite evidence
of a critical risk to life. We need to hear a full explanation
from Mr Sunak.”
