Devon school buildings checked amid concrete collapse fears

By Guy Henderson - Local Democracy Reporter

1st Sep 2023 | Local News

School class (Taylor Flowe/ Unsplash)
School class (Taylor Flowe/ Unsplash)

School buildings in parts of Devon are being checked for a type of concrete which has forced some schools across the country to close amid safety fears.

The government says 156 school buildings nationwide have been built using reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete, known as RAAC, and 52 risk sudden collapse. Action has been taken to make them safe, in some cases by propping up the concrete.

The Department for Education has so far declined to say which schools are affected, but believes the remaining 104 were safe for children to be in.

However, the government has now discovered cases where low-risk RAAC turned out to be unsafe, and in one school a beam collapsed.

Dozens may have to close, and the BBC says hundreds more schools are yet to conclude whether or not they have RAAC. It reports a June report by the National Audit Office which says 572 schools have been identified where RAAC might be present. Engineers have been carrying out surveys to work out where the problems are.

Finding out which schools are affected is complicated by the fact that many schools or the trusts that run them are responsible for their buildings, rather than local authorities.

A Devon County Council spokesperson said: "We have worked with the Department for Education on this process and don't believe that any schools for which we are responsible have been affected, nor have we received any feedback from other responsible bodies regarding their buildings."

The government has still not published the list of schools affected, but it says it will.

     

New exmouth Jobs Section Launched!!
Vacancies updated hourly!!
Click here: exmouth jobs

Share:

Related Articles

County Hall, Exeter (LDRS)
Local News

Children in care in Devon surpasses 900 as budget pressures bite

L: Open Door Exmouth's community hub on South Street (Nub News). R: Craft café (Open Door)
Local News

Exmouth charity launches 'craft café'

Sign-Up for our FREE Newsletter

We want to provide exmouth with more and more clickbait-free local news.
To do that, we need a loyal newsletter following.
Help us survive and sign up to our FREE weekly newsletter.

Already subscribed? Thank you. Just press X or click here.
We won't pass your details on to anyone else.
By clicking the Subscribe button you agree to our Privacy Policy.