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Schools affected by collapse-risk concrete will not have to pay for repairs out of their budgets, the education secretary has insisted.

Gillian Keegan told Sky News there will be no new money to fix the problem, but the costs will be covered by the Department for Education (DfE).

There has been a growing row over who will pay to pick up the bill for repairs to reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) after the government announced last week that more than 100 schools in England would have to close or partially close because of the risks associated with it.

Labour has accused the government of being in “complete chaos” over the issue and accused the prime minister of putting lives at risk by slashing funding for school refurbishment when he was chancellor.

Politics Live: Speculation grows over Labour reshuffle today

A taped-off section inside a school affected with reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC)
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A taped-off section inside a school affected with reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC)

Ms Keegan said ministers had already procured stock of portable cabins for schools that need temporary accommodation – and the DfE is paying for this “directly”.

She said: “We have eight structural surveying firms who go in and do the surveys.

“We have three portacabin providers, so we’ve laid up a stock of portacabins so that people can be prepared quickly to be able to do that if they need temporary accommodation. And we’ve also looked at a propping company that’s nationwide.

“The Department for Education will pay for all of that.”

Ms Keegan could not say how much funding would be ringfenced towards the issue but admitted it was likely to cost “many, many millions of pounds” – as some schools will have to be rebuilt.

Asked if schools that are already strapped for cash will have to find more money, Ms Keegan insisted: “No, we will pay for that.”

Asked if the money will come out of school budgets, Ms Keegan said: “No. It’s coming out of the Department for Education.”

Read more:
The schools we know are affected
Pupils face disruption due to probe
Hundreds of crumbling schools to be renovated

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What is the concrete crisis?

On Sunday Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said he would “spend what it takes” to address the problem, but Treasury sources later said money for repairs would come from the Department for Education’s (DfE) existing capital budget.

Shadow education secretary Bridget Phillipson said she was concerned that “raiding” the DfE’s capital budget – money for buildings and infrastructure – to fund repairs could have a negative effect in the long-term.

The government has admitted more classrooms could be forced to shut as further assessments are made of the risks of RAAC.

Ministers have promised to publish a list of the schools affected “in due course” but Labour has threatened to force a vote to compel its publication next week.

Thangam Debbonaire, the shadow leader of the House of Commons, told Sky News the full scale of the problem is still unknown and ministers must “come clean to parents, staff and pupils” and publish the list of schools affected.

She said the Tories “cancelled the building schools for the future plan” and under Rishi Sunak as chancellor “funding for school refurbishment was halved in 2021, by which time they already knew about the RAAC”.

“The Secretary of State appears to be just so weak on getting a grip on this problem and parents are left in the dark for yet another day,” she said.

The government changed its guidance on RAAC last week after the collapse of a beam previously considered safe.

But concerns about RAAC – a lightweight concrete used up until the mid-1990s – in public buildings were raised in 2018, prompting accusations that ministers have failed to act quickly enough.

Experts have warned the risks may extend beyond schools to hospitals, court buildings and prisons, where the material is present.

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Jaguar Land Rover to ‘pause’ US shipments over Donald Trump tariffs

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Jaguar Land Rover to 'pause' US shipments over Donald Trump tariffs

Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has said it will “pause” shipments to the US as the British car firm works to “address the new trading terms” of Donald Trump’s tariffs.

The US president has introduced a 25% levy on all foreign cars imported into the country, which came into force on Thursday.

JLR, one of the country’s biggest carmakers, exported about 38,000 cars to the US in the third quarter of 2024 – almost equal to the amount sold to the UK and the EU combined.

Follow live updates: Trump’s baseline 10% tariff kicks in

In a statement on Saturday, a spokesperson for the company behind the Jaguar, Land Rover and Range Rover brands said: “The USA is an important market for JLR’s luxury brands.

“As we work to address the new trading terms with our business partners, we are taking some short-term actions including a shipment pause in April, as we develop our mid- to longer-term plans.”

The company released a statement last week before Mr Trump announced a “baseline” 10% tariff on goods from around the world, which kicked in on Saturday morning, on what he called “liberation day”.

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JLR reassured customers its business was “resilient” and “accustomed to changing market conditions”.

“Our priorities now are delivering for our clients around the world and addressing these new US trading terms,” the firm said.

Trading across the world has been hit by Mr Trump’s tariff announcement at the White House on Wednesday.

All but one stock on the FTSE 100 fell on Friday – with Rolls-Royce, banks and miners among those to suffer the sharpest losses.

Read more: A red wall on Wall Street – but Trump seems to believe it will work out

Cars are the top product exported from the UK to the US, with exports worth £8.3bn in the year to the end of September 2024, according to data from the Office for National Statistics.

For UK carmakers, the US is the second largest export market behind the European Union.

Industry groups have previously warned the tariffs will force firms to rethink where they trade, while a report by thinktank the Institute for Public Policy Research said more than 25,000 car manufacturing jobs in the UK could be at risk.

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Two people die after caravan fire at holiday park in Lincolnshire

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Two people die after caravan fire at holiday park in Lincolnshire

Two people have died following a fire at a caravan site near Skegness, Lincolnshire Police have said.

In a statement, officers said they were called at 3.53am on Saturday to a report of a blaze at Golden Beach Holiday Park in the village of Ingoldmells.

Fire and rescue crews attended the scene, and two people were found to have died.

They were reported to be a 10-year-old girl and a 48-year-old man.

The force said the victims’ next of kin have been informed and will be supported by specially trained officers.

Officers are trying to establish the exact cause of the blaze.

“We are at the very early stages of our investigation and as such we are keeping an open mind,” the force said.

Two fire crews remain at the scene.

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Boy dies after ‘getting into difficulty’ in lake in southeast London

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Boy dies after 'getting into difficulty' in lake in southeast London

A 15-year-old boy has died after “getting into difficulty” in a lake in southeast London, police say.

Officers and paramedics were called shortly after 3pm on Friday to Beckenham Place Park in Lewisham.

The Metropolitan Police said a boy “was recovered from the lake” at around 10.42pm the same day.

“He was taken to hospital where he was sadly pronounced dead. His death is being treated as unexpected but not believed to be suspicious,” according to the force.

The boy’s family has been told and are being supported by specialist officers.

The force originally said the child was 16 years old, but has since confirmed his age as 15.

In the earlier statement, officers said emergency services carried out a search and the park was evacuated.

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google street view inside Beckenham Place park, Lewisham where a 16 y/o boy is missing after getting into difficulty in a lake
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Emergency teams were called to Beckenham Place Park on Friday afternoon

Beckenham Place Park, which borders the London borough of Bromley, covers around 240 acres, according to the park’s website.

The lake is described as 285 metres long, reaching depths of up to 3.5 metres.

It is designed as a swimming lake for open-water swimming and paddle boarding.

A London Ambulance Service spokesperson said on Friday: “We were called at 3.02pm this afternoon to reports of a person in the water.

“We sent resources to the scene, including an ambulance crew, an incident response officer and members of our hazardous area response team.”

Emergency teams have not explained how the boy entered the water, or whether he was accompanied by others.

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