Government confirms how RAAC removal will be funded

The government has confirmed how it will proceed with schools that have RAAC confirmed, with the final list of RAAC schools now published.

There are 234 education settings with confirmed RAAC in some areas of their buildings - around 1%.

119 of these schools will have one or more buildings rebuilt or refurbished through the School Rebuilding Programme where works to remove RAAC are more extensive or complex.

Additionally 110 schools and colleges will benefit from grant funding to remove RAAC from their buildings where works will typically be smaller in scale.

Five schools and colleges, with support from the Department, have alternative arrangements in place to address the removal of RAAC, for example the building will not be part of the school or college estate over the longer term.

Those responsible for affected school and college buildings will receive direct confirmation from the department on how the RAAC removal will be funded.

A small number of schools and colleges are carrying out additional checks for further assurance in some spaces. The Department is working with responsible bodies to support them to complete these additional checks as quickly as possible.

In addition to the 119 schools with confirmed RAAC included in the School Rebuilding Programme, the Department has confirmed that a further 8 schools without RAAC have also been added to the programme. The projects announced today take the total number of schools in the programme to 513. The ten-year School Rebuilding Programme is continuing to prioritise school buildings with the highest condition need across England through rebuilding or significantly refurbishing buildings.

The Government has already confirmed it will fund schools and colleges for the costs of work needed to mitigate the presence of RAAC. This announcement provides certainty for individual schools or colleges in England on how the Government will support the removal of RAAC from their buildings.