Government officials are running a 鈥渃all centre鈥 to chase schools who have not responded to a survey on reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC), with the lack of response 鈥渂affling鈥 ministers. Baroness Barran told Schools Week the Department for Education was 鈥渉ere to help鈥 with the potentially dangerous concrete building materials. The Office for Government Property (OGP) fears the 鈥渃rumbly鈥 material, used widely in flat-roofed school buildings, is 鈥渓iable to collapse鈥. According to a Local Government Association report, seen by Schools Week, more than 150 schools 鈥渉ave been identified as potentially having RAAC鈥. Last March, the Department for Education asked responsible bodies 鈥 trusts and councils 鈥 to Barran described this as a 鈥渟uperhuman task鈥, and although a 鈥渧ast majority鈥 had responded, 鈥渁 handful鈥 had not. 鈥淚 find that really baffling, because we are here to help them. We’ve lined up a lot of capacity in terms of structural surveys and so forth. But if they don鈥檛 reply to us鈥 鈥淲e’re running a call centre now in the department where we’re ringing people repeatedly, which is probably not the best use of time.鈥 DfE will help with ‘urgent capital issues’ Most capital funding is allocated through wider schemes such as the condition improvement fund and school rebuilding programme. But where schools identify an 鈥渦rgent capital issue鈥, the department will work with them to address it, Barran pledged. 鈥淲e don’t leave schools without the funding.鈥 The collapse of a primary school鈥檚 flat roof in 2018 鈥 at a weekend and with no casualties 鈥 is believed to have brought the potential danger of RAAC鈥檚 fragility into sharp focus. In September, the OGP issued a safety briefing notice to all property leaders warning RAAC was 鈥渓ife-expired and liable to collapse鈥. But Barran said RAAC was 鈥渘ot necessarily in and of itself a huge risk, if it’s been properly maintained鈥. While some schools had identified it in a store cupboard, which could be taken out of use and was a 鈥渘on-issue鈥, others 鈥渉ad a number of classrooms closed, where we’ve had to do propping before children can go back in. So we’ve had a really wide range.鈥 Minister non-committal on potential rebuilding delay The rebuilding of five hospitals with 鈥渟ignificant鈥 amounts of RAAC is to be prioritised 鈥済iven the risks they pose to patients and staff鈥. Two affected hospitals have been named, with the reprioritisation delaying completion of 鈥渦p to鈥 eight other projects until after 2030. Sources in schools expecting rebuilds reported slow progress, but said that wasn’t unusual for big government projects. Barran was non-committal on whether remediation work would delay other capital projects, such as through the government鈥檚 flagship 10-year school rebuilding programme. 鈥淯ntil we have completed and know what the full scope of the issue is, I can’t give you an accurate answer to how many schools we鈥檙e talking about, and also what the appropriate response is,鈥 she said. The programme, launched in 2021, aims to fully or partially rebuild 500 schools over a decade. Estates framework should give schools ‘confidence’ Officials used the DfE鈥檚 most recent school condition data collection alone to select the first schools, but ministers changed tack last year and allowed responsible bodies to nominate the schools they felt were in direst need of repair. Barran said this had avoided spending money on small fixes at schools that would soon be rebuilt. A 鈥渃atalyst鈥 was a school she visited that had spent millions to replace all its windows just two years before it got a rebuild. 鈥淲e were putting on a scrap heap the 拢3 million worth of windows that we put in five minutes earlier.鈥 The government has also launched a , designed to 鈥渟et the standard skills and knowledge required by those conducting estate management functions, roles and responsibilities at different levels鈥. Barran said the guidance was requested by trusts and councils. 鈥淎ny one of us who’s done work, even on your own house, getting it a bit wrong is a a very expensive mistake 鈥 even at a domestic level, let alone a school level. 鈥淕iving schools and responsible bodies the confidence about what they should be doing, and to be able to work most effectively, was the kind of requests that were responding to.鈥 Schools can access the RAAC survey