Jeremy Hunt has said the Government will “spend what it takes” to make schools safe after classrooms were forced to close just before the new term due to concerns about crumbling concrete.
The Chancellor moved to reassure parents that an “exhaustive process” has been carried out to identify any unsafe buildings, amid accusations ministers failed to act quickly enough to mitigate risks raised in 2018.
He said Education Secretary Gillian Keegan had “acted immediately” after new information came to light over the summer about the potential danger of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (Raac), a lightweight material used up to the mid-1990s.
Speaking on the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg show, Mr Hunt would not speculate on the potential cost of fixing the problem, but said: “We will spend what it takes to make sure children can go to school safely, yes.”
Children’s Commissioner Rachel de Souza welcomed the funding pledge but said “we shouldn’t even have been in this situation”.
She told the same programme: “There should have been planning in place and a really good school building programme that has addressed this over the years.
“Is it really the least to ask to say that we want safe, fit-for-purpose buildings? There’s not enough money in there and it’s not moving quick enough.”
More than 100 schools and colleges have been told by the Department for Education (DfE) to fully or partially shut buildings following the recent collapse of a beam previously considered safe.
Schools minister Nick Gibb has admitted more classrooms could be forced to shut as schools in England prepare to head back for the start of the new year.
Ms Keegan promised the crisis would not lead to a “return to the dark days of lockdown”, despite guidance advising schools to use pandemic-style remote learning as a last resort if they are unable to hold face-to-face lessons.
Writing in The Sun On Sunday, she said there was “no choice” other than closures after a “handful of cases” where Raac had failed.
Remote learning should last “days, not weeks” and children will not be left unable to access classrooms for months, the Government has said, but ministers have refused to go into any further detail about when the disruption might ease.