Hunt says UK government will 'spend what it takes' to make school buildings safer

Critics welcome funding pledge but say ministers should have acted quicker

Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt appearing on the BBC's "Sunday Morning" political television show in London with journalist Laura Kuenssberg. AFP

British Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has pledged to “spend what it takes” to make school buildings safer, with many having been forced to close down before the new term due to concerns about crumbling concrete.

Dozens of school buildings in England were forced to fully or partially close their premises after they were identified as having risky reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete.

The closures have prompted accusations that ministers failed to act quickly enough when those concerns were first raised in 2018. Mr Hunt insisted that “action was taken then” with building beings “checked and classified as safe”, but that “the view changed” after new information about RAAC came to light over the summer.

He added that Education Secretary Gillian Keegan had “acted immediately” when the new information became available.

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.”

The government would go through the “exhaustive process” of going through all 22,000 schools since 2018 to check whether RAAC was being used in buildings.

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.”

Labour refused to commit to spending more money to building schools than the government, insisting if it forms a government it will face a “really tall order.”

“We had a plan, they scrapped it, had they pressed ahead we wouldn't be having this conversation. That's the reality,” she told the same programme.

Asked why she would not commit to spending for rebuilding schools, she said: “Because we face a really difficult situation around the economy.”

She added: “The public finances are in a terrible state. The next Labour government, if we form a government, will face a really tall order, but I am confident that we will put education right back at the heart of the ambition that we have for Britain.”

More than 100 schools and colleges have been told by the Department for Education 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.

Agencies contributed to this report.