Select committee: Education Committee
Recommendation 16
7th Report - Foundations of Learning: replacing RAAC and securing school buildings
Published 11 Feb 2026
Addressed to Department for Education
Education Committee Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) and management of school estates All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Recommendation (the committee's words)
Reflecting on the Committee’s wider recent work, particularly on SEND, we recommend that the Government seeks to ensure that when investment is being made to address safety concerns and to replace or refurbish the most outdated school buildings, it aligns this expenditure with its objective of ensuring that mainstream schools are inclusive of children with SEND and ensures that all investment delivers school buildings which are inclusive for children with a wide range of SEND needs and provide an excellent learning environment for all children. (Recommendation, Paragraph 60) 20
From: Education Committee, 7th Report - Foundations of Learning: replacing RAAC and securing school buildings (HC 1399), 11 February 2026
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 17 April 2026 (deadline 11 April 2026).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government accepts some of the Committee's recommendations, partially accepts others and does not accept the call for a national digital asbestos register, and says it has already published the Education Estates Strategy.
- On asbestos, the government "do[es] not accept" a national digital register, saying it would duplicate existing information, require "significant resource" and could "undermine the active requirement on duty holders". HSE is exploring a census/survey approach, initially covering the central Government estate.
- It partially accepts the recommendations on risk surveys and on a long-term programme for system-built blocks. For the latter it states it does "not anticipate including any specific system or construction types as a matter of course".
- It accepts the recommendations on supporting responsible bodies, on data and on SEND inclusion. From autumn 2026 it will ask responsible bodies to make an annual return confirming they meet the School Estate Management Standards.
- On RAAC, it commits that by 2029 every school and college not being substantially rebuilt "will be RAAC-free". It will publish a summary of the Older Buildings Research technical findings "Before the summer".