Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 11
11
Accepted
Schools awaiting specialist surveys for suspected RAAC face prolonged uncertainty regarding building safety.
Conclusion
The schools that have recently responded to DfE’s questionnaire saying they believe RAAC is present in their buildings are likely to be waiting a number of weeks for this to be confirmed by a specialist survey.19 DfE’s guidance for these schools is not to close the spaces where they suspect RAAC to be present, but to make a contingency plan for what they will do if RAAC is confirmed.20
Government Response Summary
The government states the RAAC identification programme is complete, with all suspected cases surveyed and a final list of confirmed cases published on 8 February 2024, indicating that schools are no longer waiting for surveys.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
1.6 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Recommendation implemented 1.7 The Department for Education has moved at pace to support identification of RAAC in the school and college estate, including ramping up its programme of professional surveys to verify its presence, when responsible bodies have informed the department that it may be present. 1.8 All responsible bodies for schools and colleges with blocks built in the target era have submitted responses to the questionnaire. The Department for Education’s RAAC identification programme is complete, and the questionnaire has closed. A final list of schools and colleges with confirmed cases of RAAC in England was published on 8 February 2024. Any school or college that advised us they suspect they might have RAAC has had a survey to confirm if RAAC is present. Other than the 234 education settings, the surveys found no evidence of RAAC. A small number of schools and colleges are carrying out additional checks for further assurance in some spaces. The department is working with responsible bodies to support them to complete these additional checks as quickly as possible. As these final checks are completed, the department expects the number of further cases to be very low. This has been the case over the last two months, where only three cases have been identified.