Critical school repairs are being further delayed by the crumbling concrete crisis, an influential group of MPs has warned.
The School Reconstruction Programme, already stalled by the lack of attracting contractors, is at risk of being further derailed by growing fears over the presence of Autoclave Reinforced Concrete (RAAC) throughout the estate , the Public Accounts Committee of the House of Commons. said
About 1,200 schools, attended by a total of 700,000 students, are being considered for the program, which aims to rebuild or refurbish the 500 buildings with the most needs.
But in a new one report On the state of school buildings, the committee accuses the Department for Education (DfE) of focusing on “reactive measures” to address immediate building concerns that often ignore long-term value considerations time limit.
The department said many of the 100 schools that have not yet been selected for the program will be chosen because they have serious issues with RAAC.
This means that many other schools will be excluded from the scheme, although a long-term value-for-money assessment based on their poor condition should lead to the conclusion that they should be rebuilt, the committee says.
Inflationary pressures in the construction industry have already made it difficult to find contractors under the scheme, pushing it late, he adds, echoing concerns from the National Audit Office. in June.
By March, the department had delivered just one project instead of the four expected and awarded 24 contracts against the expected 83.
The government reacted to the tentative response from contractors by offering risk-sharing arrangements that were more attractive to the construction industry and by standardizing the design of buildings, the report said.
The department admitted it would not be able to catch up on projects where it was already behind, but was confident it would stay on track for future projects, the committee added.
However, the committee fears that inflation and other external challenges will mean that the program will no longer achieve the intended results and that it will be too costly to do so.
Last week, too he warned that some hospitals may have to close before their replacements are readybecause of the concern about the presence of RAAC in the health center.
Meg Hillier, who chairs the committee, said it was “beyond unacceptable” that children had to learn in dilapidated or unsafe buildings, and that overcoming the challenges of a long-term deficit in planning infrastructure would not be easy.
“The School Rebuilding Program was already struggling to stay on track, and DfE had no mechanism to direct funding to the regions that need it most,” he said.
“It risks being further sidetracked by concerns about RAAC, and many schools that need help will not get it as a result.”
Given the poor condition of so many school buildings, the government’s main challenge now is to keep children and staff safe, Hillier said.
The Department for Education said it did not accept that there had been slow progress on the School Rebuilding Programme, insisting that the current average length of projects had been met or bettered on timelines based on previous comparable programmes.
“Our school rebuild program continues to rebuild and refurbish school buildings in the worst conditions, with the first 400 projects selected ahead of schedule,” a spokesman said.
He added that the government had taken swift action, responding to new evidence, to identify and support all schools with RAAC to ensure the safety of pupils and teachers.
“We have now collected questionnaire responses from all educational settings in the affected eras: the vast majority do not have RAACs, and of those that do, most offer face-to-face education and only a small handful offer some form of distance education for short period,” the spokesman said.
“We have been clear that we will do whatever it takes to remove RAAC from the school and the university.”
