A cross-party effort is required to tackle the growing concrete crisis

SIR – The hysterical faux outrage of opposition politicians about the school concrete crisis would be laughable if the subject were not so serious. 

The reality is that national and local politicians of all parties have for decades endorsed tender outcomes at local levels for a wide variety of public-sector buildings. 

Understandably, decision-makers chose the most cost-effective options, which may have included reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC). The decisions would not have been at Cabinet level. 

The worry is that the first 100 schools may be the tip of the iceberg. What is needed is sensible cross-party cooperation and planning for something that may take a very long time and vast sums of money to rectify.

Mark Jackson
Charlton, Worcestershire

SIR – In 2021 the Treasury halved the number of schools being rebuilt each year, from 100 to 50, despite warnings from the Department for Education about the safety of many school buildings (report, telegraph.co.uk, September 4). At the same time, huge sums were found for the HS2 vanity project. The Chancellor who decided this order of priorities was Rishi Sunak. As Pierre Mendès France said: “To govern is to choose.”

John Hicks
Manchester

SIR – Schools are collapsing and temporary teaching space is urgently needed. How auspicious that the Government is so proficient in the requisition of hotels and barges for unexpected needs.

Cameron Morice
Reading, Berkshire 

SIR – Please can concrete inspectors go immediately to the Department for Education building in Westminster? With any luck they will close it down.

Edward Hill
Chandlers Ford, Hampshire

SIR – The current problems with RAAC are reminiscent of the 1980s. Like today, building and civil engineers were running around like headless chickens due to the not dissimilar alkali-aggregate reaction (AAR), which, like RAAC, caused structural collapse.

Unlike AAR, RAAC is easy to detect: just drill into it with a small portable drill, and unlike with dense concrete the drill will rapidly cut a hole.

Malcolm Bailey
Radlett, Hertfordshire

SIR – In 1974 the school where I taught was found to have asbestos in the roof structure.

The whole top floor was shut off and supported by acrow props. The school ran for two sessions: 8am to 12.30pm and 1pm to 5.30pm. No one was harmed. 

In fact two of my pupils’ families made a substantial amount of money by renting out the acrow props.

Paul Seddon
St Helens, Lancashire