Ministers have been ordered to commit to a funding package and deadline to rid schools of collapse-prone RAAC like their NHS counterparts. In a damning report, penned by the public accounts committee, the Department for Education was also told it must “urgently” get a handle on the number of inaccurate responses from schools to its RAAC questionnaire. The calls come after Schools Week revealed on Friday that three Stockport schools that had originally been given clean bills of health have closed following extra RAAC inspections. Meg Hillier In the summer, the National Audit Office revealed that years of chronic underinvestment have meant 700,000 children are being educated in buildings needing major repairs. Speaking today, PAC chair Dame Meg Hillier said 鈥渙vercoming the consequences of this deficit of long-term infrastructure planning will not be easy鈥 for the Department for Education. 鈥淭he images of classroom ceilings collapsed onto empty school desks released in recent months are not just searing indictments of a deteriorating school estate. 鈥淭hey are chilling reminders of absolute catastrophe averted through sheer luck鈥he government鈥檚 prime challenge now is to keep the safety of children and staff absolutely paramount.鈥 Here鈥檚 what today鈥檚 report revealed鈥 1. DfE must 鈥榓ssess risks of inaccurate RAAC questionnaires鈥 Since last March, responsible bodies that oversee schools 鈥 either a council or academy trust 鈥 have been asked to on whether their buildings have the material. DfE chief operating officer Jane Cunliffe told PAC in September that a sample of primaries and secondaries that didn鈥檛 think they have RAAC, despite being built during when the concrete was commonly used, will be checked. If this shows 鈥渢here were false negatives, we will have to think about what we do and whether there鈥檚 more surveying we need to do鈥, she added. PAC has now recommended that the department 鈥渘eeds to urgently assess the risks of inaccuracies within RAAC questionnaire returns and specialist surveys鈥. It said this would allow the government to consider 鈥渢hese risks in its overall approach, decision-making and guidance鈥. 2. Health bosses going further on RAAC The committee also told education chiefs they should replicate the Department of Health鈥檚 reaction to the crisis. The report noted how hospital bosses have established a 鈥溌685 million fund to 2024鈥25 to mitigate RAAC鈥 and pledged to 鈥渞emove RAAC from the NHS estate by 2035鈥. Meanwhile, the DfE 鈥渉as made no such financial or practical commitments鈥. PAC argued that the department should 鈥渕ake clear when and how it plans to have eradicated鈥 the concrete from the school estate, 鈥渓ine with the approach already taken鈥 by health. It urged education officials to 鈥渆xpedite鈥 their 鈥減rogramme of specialist surveys where RAAC is suspected鈥, and in 鈥渄ue course publish the full set of results鈥 so the extent of the problem is known. NHS England has said there is now 鈥渁 limited number鈥 of engineers available. The committee also demanded that the DfE write to it 鈥渨ith its latest assessment of the scale鈥 of the crisis, its 鈥減lan to deal with it, and the likely associated costs鈥. Latest government figures, published last month, confirmed the presence of RAAC at 214 schools. 3. Confusion over government’s RAAC decision-making Education secretary Gillian Keegan escalated her department鈥檚 RAAC policy by ordering 104 schools to partially of fully close days before the start of the new academic year. This came after three collapses 鈥渨ithout warning鈥 in buildings considered non-critical. Officials told PAC they had 鈥渢herefore decided to take a more risk-averse approach, and advise that all spaces鈥 with the concrete, even if they were considered safe, should be closed. But they 鈥渇ailed to clarify whether鈥 the change of tack stemmed from a realisation the assessment process 鈥渨as insufficient鈥 or if the department had altered 鈥渋ts risk appetite鈥. The report said DfE should 鈥渃larify its risk appetite鈥nd ensure this feeds through into consistent decision-making, with a nominated senior official in charge鈥. 4. Delaying securing temporary classrooms The government had hoped to use 鈥central contracts to enable speedier delivery of temporary classrooms to all RAAC-affected schools鈥 and to pay for them centrally out of its capital funding pot. But officials 鈥渃onceded that in some cases responsible bodies had decided to procure temporary classrooms themselves because they felt the DfE route was not delivering what they needed鈥. The department has also assigned caseworkers to each school found to have the concrete. But PAC 鈥渃hallenged DfE with evidence that the system was not working perfectly鈥. 鈥淔or example, it took some time for caseworkers to be given devolved authority to take spending decisions. 鈥淎nd there were examples of schools having to engage in protracted discussions over who would pay for basic equipment such as temporary whiteboards.鈥 5. Knowledge of asbestos still incomplete DfE agreed in May 2022 to urgently chase the 鈥7 per cent of schools that had not responded to the asbestos management survey it launched鈥 five years ago. In July, the figure had been cut to just over 4 per cent, which represents almost 1,000 schools. The government鈥檚 second condition data collection programme will not specifically check for the material, but it will feature a review of 鈥渁sbestos management plans and compliance with guidance鈥. Leaders鈥 union NAHT has also written to PAC to warn that there can be 鈥渁 higher risk of asbestos disturbance鈥 in schools than in other workplaces. Health and Safety Executive figures suggest 11 current or former teachers died from conditions related to the material each year. PAC told DfE to provide it with 鈥渆vidence that it has a full picture of asbestos鈥 across the school estate 鈥渁s soon as possible鈥. 6. Not enough focus on 鈥榣ong-term measures鈥 The NAO detailed in the summer that the government鈥檚 school rebuilding programme, which launched in 2020, had fallen behind schedule. As of May, just 24 contracts had been awarded compared to a forecast of 82, with one scheme completed compared to its forecast of four. The PAC report said DfE 鈥渃oncedes that it will not be able to catch up on projects where it is already behind the planned timeframe, but it is confident it will stay on track鈥 for upcoming developments. The committee added: 鈥淲e have asked project management experts about the early warning signs that a project may need to be reset. 鈥淭hey replied that the signs include critical milestones not being met, significant cost pressures that cannot be recovered later in the project, and benefits being way off track in terms of realisation.鈥 Many of the 100 schools still to be selected for the programme will be chosen because they have RAAC. But PAC argued this means many others in poor condition will not be able to secure a place on the scheme, even though longer-term value-for-money assessments would conclude 鈥渢hey should be rebuilt鈥. 鈥淲ithin the next year, DfE should set out its strategy for encouraging responsible bodies to carry out timely and effective repairs to better protect longer-term value for money.鈥 7. Councils left without access to advisers PAC calculated that 10 local authorities 鈥渨ould not reach the threshold to [automatically] receive maintenance and repair funding directly if they were multi-academy trusts鈥. When asked if it was providing these smaller councils with additional support as 鈥渢hey may lack dedicated resources for school estate management鈥, the DfE said: 鈥淎uthorities have estates responsibilities in other parts of their operations, which should help them access the appropriate expertise.鈥 It also confirmed that its capital advisers programme 鈥 which sees building experts sent into trusts 鈥 is only targeted at academy chains. Officials did not rule out the idea of extending the scheme to local authorities, PAC added. The Catholic Education Service has also argued that MAT 鈥渇unding for school buildings should be given directly to dioceses鈥. The report revealed the department is in discussions with the bodies 鈥渢o determine whether different administrative arrangements would deliver improvements鈥. What government said… A DfE spokesperson stated the government does “not accept the committee’s assessment”. The department has “has taken swift action, responding to new evidence, to identify and support all schools with RAAC”, they argued. 鈥淲e have now gathered questionnaire responses from all education settings in the affected eras. The vast majority have no RAAC and of those that do, most are providing face-to-face education with only a small handful providing a form of remote education for a short period.” On the reliability of RAAC questionnaires, the DfE said “extensive guidance” is provided to responsible bodies to “support these visual inspections”. If there is any suspicion the material “may be present or if there is any doubt, it will be swiftly investigated by appropriate surveyors”.