Unions want action on safety

The NAHT headteachers’ union has raised “very significant concerns” about the potential risks posed by the historical use of RAAC reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete in some school buildings with the HSE health and safety regulator and the DfE education department. It called for checks in every single school where the use of RAAC is identified.

Earlier in February 2023, seven education unions – Community, GMB, NAHT, NASUWT, NEU, UNISON and Unite – wrote to education secretary Gillian Keegan over the risk of building collapses and calling for urgent action. They said the post-war system-built structures at risk of collapse are also those most likely to contain asbestos, “further compounding the gravity of the situation, should a collapse occur”.

Capital spending on the school estate fell by half in real terms between 2009/10 and 2021/22, with “inevitable consequences”. The DfE admitted in its 2022 annual report that the situation had reached breaking point, but the unions said it “does not even know which school buildings are at risk of collapse”.