Sheffield RAAC: At least one city school affected as DfE orders sites with ageing concrete to shut immediately

At least one Sheffield school could be affected by a Government order to "immediately shut" any school building made with aerated 'RAAC' concrete over safety fears.

The Department for Education is preparing to immediately close any school building made using an ageing kind of concrete known as RAAC that is "susceptible to failure."

One Sheffield school - Abbey Lane Primary, in Woodseats - is known to have been built using the problem material, according to a statement from the city council made in July. The school is reportedly undergoing or due to receive £620,000 of "RAAC plank replacement" repair work.

Sheffield City Council said in July that it was "confident" none of its 94 schools were "at imminent risk or danger" following enquiries about building safety.

Councillor Dawn Dale, chair of education, children and families policy committee at Sheffield City Council, told The Star today: “One school in Sheffield has Reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) and we have worked with parents and carers at Abbey Lane Primary School over the last few months to reassure them that RAAC will have minimal impact on Abbey Lane Primary School.

“Alternative meal arrangements will be in place from next week as the replaced roofing covers the kitchen area. This information has been communicated to parents and carers of children who attend the school.”

“Work started in July to replace the RAAC at the school, which will cost £620,000 from our capital budgets. The work is expected to be completed by 1st December 2023.”

Speaking in July, Coun Dale said: "We feel confident that our data is up to date and that we have no schools where pupils or staff are at imminent risk or danger.”

However, The Guardian and the BBC have today (August 31) claimed that regardless of the assessed risk of a building made using reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) blocks, such buildings should be “taken out of use and mitigations should be implemented immediately”, according to official papers by the DfE.

Do any schools in Sheffield use RAAC and are they unsafe?

It comes after The Star reported in July how over £100m of repairs are needed across all of Sheffield's maintained schools, £45m of which were classed as "urgent".

This followed from a national report in June that found 700,000 children in England are learning in 'unsafe or ageing' buildings.

The report highlighted RAAC in schools as "susceptible to failure", with as many as 572 schools nationwide containing the material.

Despite this, Sheffield City Council says it is “confident” no pupils or staff at any of its schools are “at imminent risk or danger”.

However, the latest building surveys were carried out during 2018-202, with fresh ones to take place across 2023 and 2024.

Speaking in July, Councillor Dawn Dale, chair of Sheffield Council’s education, children and families committee, said the massive bills fluctuate with the costs of materials.

She said: “It’s no secret that schools are underfunded as part of the Government’s budget.

“We know we need more funding in Sheffield, however, we work with what we have and we successfully manage our budgets allowing us to be in a position to support repairs across Sheffield maintained schools.

“We feel confident that our data is up to date and that we have no schools where pupils or staff are at imminent risk or danger.”

In answer to questions by The Star, a council spokesperson was not specific about what made £45m of the repair work ‘urgent’, only saying they use a scoring system and that: “...because the council have targeted well with the funding we receive, and we have such good data, we are confident there are no safety issues in Sheffield schools generally, but lack of funding does increase the risk that this may not be the case in future.”

It comes as Sheffield could potentially rebuild as many as seven schools in the city top to bottom through the DfE’s Rebuilding Schools programme, with Brunswick Community Primary closest to starting.

The council says in the “unlikely” event of a school being found unsafe, arrangements would be made up to and including shutting the school or part of it, adding: “We would never allow pupils and staff to work in a building that is unsafe.”

In a statement today, the Department said "some short-term disruption is inevitable" over the issue, and it has contacted all 104 further settings where RAAC is currently confirmed to be present without mitigations in place with orders to "vacate spaces" with the material.

It added that the "majority of these settings will remain open for learning" and "a minority will need to either fully or partially relocate" while "mitigations" are put in place.

Education Secretary, Gillian Keegan, said: "Nothing is more important than making sure children and staff are safe in schools and colleges, which is why we are acting on new evidence about RAAC now, ahead of the start of term.  

“We must take a cautious approach because that is the right thing to do for both pupils and staff.  

“The plan we have set out will minimise the impact on pupil learning and provide schools with the right funding and support they need to put mitigations in place to deal with RAAC”.