In response to claims from the government that “responsible
bodies” have not returned RAAC surveys to the Department for
Education, Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of
School and College Leaders, today said:
“We’ve now received six messages directly from trust and school
leaders raising concerns about the accuracy of the Department for
Education’s records and have heard similar reports from other
sources.
“All tell us that they returned their RAAC surveys many months
ago but on Monday night they received a letter from Education
Minister effectively threatening to
name and shame them if they did not complete the survey by Friday
8 September. In two cases, the trusts which have contacted us
have overseen a transfer of schools and have questioned whether
the DfE’s systems may have not transferred previously completed
RAAC surveys of these schools to the new trust and have therefore
recorded the trust’s record as being incomplete.
“Education Secretary told the House of Commons
on Monday that responsible bodies have submitted responses to the
questionnaire on RAAC for 95% of schools with blocks built in the
target period, and on Tuesday she told Jeremy Vine on BBC Radio 2
that she was frustrated with ‘5% of schools or responsible bodies
that have not responded to the survey’ and said she hoped ‘all
this publicity will make them get off their backsides’.
“In light of what we are hearing, we would urge the Department
for Education to review its systems to see whether at least some
of these supposedly non-returned survey forms – and possibly a
great many – were in fact returned but have not been recorded as
such due to a technical error.
“We would also urge ministers to be very careful about pointing
the finger of blame. Ms Keegan’s outbursts this week have not
been helpful and have served only to further alienate a sector
which already feels badly let down by the government’s appalling
neglect of the school estate.
“The government has known about the risks posed by RAAC since at
least 2018 and should have addressed this issue long ago rather
than having to order the closure of school buildings at the last
minute before a new term begins. It should certainly not be
blaming schools for its failings.”
