No Brighton schools to close over crumbling concrete risks, council says – Brighton and Hove News

No Brighton and Hove  schools are set to close because of crumbling concrete, the city council says.

Unstable concrete has led to classrooms being shut at more than 100 schools in England as the new school year starts.

But a survey of the city’s schools did not find any reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAR) in the roofs, where it is most commonly used.

The co-chair of the council’s children, families and schools committee, Councillor Jacob Taylor, said: “We have previously conducted an assessment of possible RAAC in school roofs and did not find any.

“We sent our findings to the DfE.

“The DfE has not contacted us recently about this issue, and we are not aware of any of our schools having been contacted directly by them either.

“If the DfE had any concerns about schools in the city we are sure that they would have contacted either the council or the individual schools by now.”

RAAC is weaker than conventional concrete and is at risk of collapse, especially when it becomes wet and has inadequate steel beams to support it.

Schools across the country were forced to make last-minute arrangements on Friday as they were told their buildings may be unsafe.

A “minority” of the state facilities will need to “either fully or partially relocate” to alternative accommodation while safety measures are installed, the Department for Education (DfE) said.

Unions and opposition parties criticised the Government for failing to take action sooner, as schools were being shuttered ahead of the return from the summer break.

The DfE has contacted 104 settings which do not currently have mitigations in place to vacate spaces containing reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC).

But it said ministers will only provide funding for works that are “capital funded” and that schools will have to pay for rental costs for emergency accommodation.

Space in nearby schools, community centres or in an “empty local office building” was recommended for the “first few weeks” while buildings are secured with structural supports.

In guidance issued to schools, they were told that moving to pandemic-style remote education should only be considered as a “last resort and for a short period”.

Some 52 of the 156 educational settings containing the concrete have taken protective steps already this year.