Rishi Sunak facing questions over schools funding – as Tories mocked over concrete crisis ad
Just four schools have been rebuilt under a government programme which Rishi Sunak said would cover 50 a year.
The figures were confirmed to Sky News as the prime minister continued to face questions over funding for England’s crumbing schools, while the education secretary is being mocked over a graphic that sought to allay fears over the crisis which has led to huge disruption at the start of the new term.
Gillian Keegan, who was yesterday forced to apologise for a sweary outburst on the matter, tweeted an image saying “most schools are unaffected” by reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC).
Politics live: Keegan faces more mockery after social media post
Labour was quick to post a spoof saying “most beachgoers not eaten by big shark”, in reference to the stance of the mayor in the movie Jaws.
The unsafe concrete has forced the full or partial closure of over 100 schools in England this week due to fears it could collapse.
The government is coming under pressure over its handling of the issue with critics blaming historic underinvestment into school infrastructure.
Sky News has learnt that a “massive” school rebuilding programme launched in 2020 to rebuild 500 schools within a decade has taken off to a slow start.
The plan was for schools to be rebuilt and refurbished at a pace of around 50 a year, but the Department for Education confirmed that just four schools have been completed since the first round of applications was launched in 2021.
Officials insist the programme is on track, and that they are still confident of “ramping up” to an average of 50 per year.
A report by the National Audit Office, which scrutinises government spending, in June warned that there were concerns about the schools programme.
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What is the concrete crisis?
They said by March of this year the department had awarded just 24 contracts against a forecast of 83, due to “instability in the construction sector and inflationary risks”.
But a Downing Street spokesperson said while just four had been solely rebuilt, refurbishments were underway in many other schools.
And a spokesperson for the DfE said: “We have committed to rebuilding 500 schools under the Schools Rebuilding programme between 2020 and 2030 and are on track to deliver that commitment.
“Awarding contracts and establishing projects takes time but we have made rapid progress and are exceeding delivery timescales compared to the previous Priority School Building Programme, while delivering schools that will be net zero in operation. The Infrastructure and Project Authority has also highlighted the strength of the SRP’s progress.”
Sunak ‘gave less funding than requested’ for crumbling schools
Damage inside Parks Primary School in Leicester which has been affected by reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC)
It came as schools minister Nick Gibb admitted that his department had bid for 200 schools a year to be rebuilt, in a case made to the Treasury two years ago.
But Mr Sunak, who was chancellor at the time, approved just 50 – despite the senior civil servant in the department, Jonathan Slater, warning of a “critical risk to life”.
Mr Gibb sought to defend the prime minister, telling Sky News it was “simply not true” to say he oversaw budget cuts and that 50 a year was in line with previous austerity years.
He said: “We put in a bid for 200, but what Rishi agreed to was to continue the rebuilding programme with 50 a year, consistent with what we’d been doing since we came into office.
“We put in a bid for 200, but of course, the Treasury then has to compare that with all the other priorities from right across Whitehall, from the health service, defence, and so on.”
Labour’s Jonathan Ashworth, who was made shadow paymaster general in Monday’s reshuffle, said it was “the most startling fact of the day”.
He told Sky News: “You’ve got the schools minister to admit that they asked for more investment to fix schools and Rishi Sunak’s cut it back, so the buck stops with him. Schools have had to close and roofs are being held up with steel girders.”
Read more:
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Keegan compared to Thick Of It character – but is that fair?
Mr Sunak has also insisted it is “completely and utterly wrong” to accuse him of overseeing budget cuts.
He said one of the first things he did as chancellor was to announce the rebuilding programme, under which he said “about 50 schools a year… will be refurbished or rebuilt”.
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Education Sec watches the moment she was caught on camera swearing
However, criticism of the government’s strategy has continued after Ms Keegan was caught on camera bemoaning a lack of thanks for doing a “f***ing good job” and claiming others had “been sat on their arses”.
She apologised and went on to admit to being on holiday in Spain in the run-up to ordering more than 100 schools and colleges in England to make complete or partial closures.
Ministers have said that hundreds more schools may be impacted by RAAC – which was widely used in buildings from the 1950s to the mid-1990s.
There have been warnings about the material for many years, but the government said “new evidence” emerged over the summer about the dangers it poses – prompting them to order schools to close areas where it is present.
Politics
Zack Polanski and Nigel Farage are polar opposites in politics, but have one thing in common
Zack Polanski and Nigel Farage might be polar opposites when it comes to politics – but they do have one thing in common.
The pair are both cutting through in a changing media landscape when attention is scarce and trust in mainstream politics is scarcer still.
For Farage, the Reform UK leader, momentum has been building since he won a seat at the general election last year and he continues to top the polls.
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Badenoch doesn’t want to talk about Farage
But in the six weeks since Polanski became leader of the Greens, membership has doubled, they’ve polled higher than ever before while three Labour councillors have defected. Has the insurgent firebrand finally met his match?
“I’m sure I don’t need to say this, but I despise Nigel Farage’s politics and disagree with him on almost everything,” Polanski tells Sky News.
“But I think his storytelling has undoubtedly cut through and so yes there has been a huge part of us saying ‘If Farage can do that with a politics of hate and division, then it’s time for the Green Party to do that with a politics of hope and community’ and that’s absolutely what I intend to keep doing.”
Polanski was speaking after a news conference to announce the defections of the councillors in Swindon – a bellwether area that is currently led by a Labour council and has two Labour MPs, but was previously controlled by the Tories.
It is the sort of story the party would previously have announced in a press release, but the self-described “eco populist” is determined to do things differently to grab attention.
He has done media interviews daily over the past few weeks, launched his own podcast and turbocharged the Greens social media content – producing slick viral videos such as his visit to Handsworth (the Birmingham neighbourhood where Robert Jenrick claimed he saw no white people).
Zack Polanski announces the defection of Labour councillors
Polanski insists that it is not increased exposure in and of itself that is attracting people to his party but his messaging – he wants to “make hope normal again”.
“I’m not going to be in a wetsuit or be parachuting from a helicopter”, he says in a swipe at Lib Dem leader Ed Davey.
“I think you only need to do stunts if you don’t have something really clear to say and then you need to grab attention.
“I think when you look at the challenges facing this country right now if you talk about taxing wealth and not work, if you talk about the mass inequality in our society and you talk about your solidarity with people living in poverty, with working-class communities, I think these are the things that people both want to hear, but also they want to know our solutions. The good news is I’ve got loads of solutions and the party has loads of solutions. “
Some of those solutions have come under criticism – Reform UK have attacked his policy to legalise drugs and abolish private landlords.
Discontent is fuelling the rise of challenger parties. Pic: PA
Polanski is confident he can win the fight. He says it helps that he talks “quite quickly because it means that I’m able to be bold but also have nuance”. And he is a London Assembly member not an MP, so he has time to be the party’s cheerleader rather than being bogged down with case work.
As for what’s next, the 42-year-old has alluded to conversations with Labour MPs about defections. He has not revealed who they are but today gave an idea of who he would welcome – naming Starmer critic Richard Burgon.
Like Burgon, Polanski believes Starmer “will be gone by May” and that the local elections for Labour “will be disastrous”.
He wants to replace Labour “right across England and Wales” when voters go to the polls, something Reform UK has also vowed to do.
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Is Zack Polanski squeezing the Labour vote?
Could the Greens be kingmakers?
Luke Tryl, director of More in Common, says this reflects a “new axis of competition” as frontline British politics shifts from a battle of left vs right to a battle of process vs anti-establishment.
Farage has been the beneficiary of this battle so far but Tryl says Polanski is “coming up in focus groups” in a way his predecessors didn’t. “He is cutting through”, the pollster says.
However, one big challenge Polanski faces is whether his rise will cause the left vote to fragment and make it easier for Farage to win – something he has said he wants to avoid at all costs.
And yet, asked if he would form a coalition with Labour to keep Farage out of power in the event of a hung parliament, he suggested he would only do so if Sir Keir Starmer is no longer prime minister.
“I have issues with Keir Starmer as prime minister,” he says. “I think he had the trust of the public, but I would say that’s been broken over and over again. If we had a different Labour prime minister that would be a different conversation about where their values are.
He adds: “I do think stopping Nigel Farage has to be a huge mission for any progressive in this country, but the biggest way we can stop Nigel Farage is by people joining the Green Party right now; creating a real alternative to this Labour government, where we say we don’t have to compromise on our values.
“If people wanted to vote for Nigel Farage, they’d vote for Nigel Farage. What does Keir Starmer think he’s doing by offering politics that are similar but watered down? That’s not going to appeal to anyone, and I think that’s why they’re sinking in the polls.”
The shutdown could stall progress on the crypto market structure bill, but lawmakers continue to insist that the legislation is on track.
The STREAMLINE Act would update anti–money laundering rules by lifting decades-old thresholds for transaction reporting, cutting red tape for banks and crypto companies.
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