RAAC concrete: Rishi Sunak supports Gillian Keegan’s handling of crisis despite criticism from Whitehall
Rishi Sunak has backed Gillian Keegan’s handling of the schools concrete crisis after she was accused of opening up a “Pandora’s box” by taking unilateral decisions on the issue.
The prime minister said the Department for Education (DfE) had acted “exactly correctly” upon learning that more than a hundred schools were affected by the presence of collapse-prone reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC).
In total 147 schools have been identified as containing RAAC after the government responded to demands from the Opposition to publish the full list.
The start of term has been delayed at 19 schools – responsible for 11,150 pupils – while four schools with a total of 2,938 pupils have also had to return to remote learning, with the rest having to resort to a mix of remote learning and face-to-face tuition.
Speaking to reporters while on a trip to the G20 summit in Delhi, Mr Sunak said the action taken by the government “will ensure the safety of children and these buildings”.
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“We’re providing lots of support to schools so that we can mitigate these things as quickly as possible, minimise the disruption of children’s education,” he said.
“But the professional advice from the independent bodies on RAAC remains as it is. Departments individually will follow that advice as it relates to their particular estate.”
Mr Sunak’s defence comes after Sky News revealed that Ms Keegan had come under fire from colleagues for her “unilateral” decision to determine which school buildings needed to close following RAAC concerns.
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Keegan didn’t consult on closing schools
Ministers in Whitehall fear she has opened a “Pandora’s box” by setting a more cautious than necessary standard that could affect a huge array of public buildings, including housing stock, local authority buildings and the military estate.
The education secretary has made clear she took the most cautious of the options presented by officials over which buildings to shut last week.
Sky News understands that the decision was signed off by the education team in Number 10 with the prime minister’s knowledge.
However, there was no Cabinet Office meeting and no ministerial follow-up for days after the issue emerged. The Department for Education “belatedly” shared the technical advice on why they shut schools with others in Whitehall – some of whom disagree it shows a need to shut schools.
Sky News understands she “informed” the relevant Whitehall committees, which have been dealing with the issue of crumbling concrete for years. However, she did not fully consult or secure an agreement for her move.
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“This is suboptimal,” said a senior Whitehall figure. “She has made a unilateral decision. It’s not been resolved, and it’s a bit of a mess.”
The unravelling of the RAAC crisis coincided with parliament returning from the summer recess – creating a fresh headache for Mr Sunak.
At Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday, Sir Keir Starmer said cowboys were “running the country” as he criticised the Tories over the crisis unfolding in England’s schools.
The Labour leader said school closures as a result of unsafe concrete were an “inevitable result of 13 years of cutting corners and sticking plaster politics”.
The government has faced criticism for attempting to shift the blame after Ms Keegan bemoaned that she had not been thanked for doing a “f*****g good job” while other people had been “sat on their arses” in a sweary outburst that she later apologised for.
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She later told school leaders to “get off their backsides” and fill out a survey informing ministers of whether their buildings contained RAAC.
Elsewhere, Mr Sunak addressed fears about hospitals that had been built with RAAC, saying the NHS had been looking at the issue “for years” and had a £700m mitigation programme in place.
“We’ve already moved seven hospitals that are particularly affected into the new hospital programme,” he said.
“They will be all sorted by 2030. Each department will have its own particular way of dealing with it and following the technical guidance that is there.
“The chancellor has been very clear that we will provide the funding for schools for these mitigations.”
Politics
What is the loophole that allowed a family in Gaza permission to come to UK on a Ukraine resettlement scheme?
A “loophole” that allowed a Palestinian family to be granted the right to come to the UK under a Ukrainian resettlement scheme was the subject of a lot of debate in the House of Commons today.
Both the prime minister and leader of the opposition criticised a decision by a judge to allow the family of six the right to enter the UK.
Sir Keir pledged to close the “loophole” after he was asked about it by Kemi Badenoch – but could not elaborate on what it was.
Sky News has read through the judgment given by Judge Hugo Norton-Taylor to understand what happened.
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Why did the family apply?
The family of six, a husband and wife and their children aged 18, 17, eight and seven, lived in Gaza and their homes were destroyed after the 7 October attacks and subsequent conflict.
They ended up living in a humanitarian zone and then a refugee camp.
In January 2024, the family applied to come to the UK via the Ukraine Family Scheme form, in a bid to join one of the parent’s brothers, who is a British citizen and has lived in the UK since 2007.
While they acknowledged they were not eligible for the Ukraine scheme, the family chose to apply in an attempt to use the Home Office‘s policy on “applications for entry clearance outside the rules”.
The Home Office rejected the request, saying they were not satisfied there were “compelling, compassionate circumstances” to justify a request outside the rules.
They also noted the lack of a resettlement scheme for Palestinians.
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The appeals
Despite the Home Office saying there were no grounds to appeal, the family launched one against the decision on human rights grounds.
A judge then ruled that the initial rejection constituted a rejection of human rights, and so allowed an appeal.
Part of this appeal was under Article Eight of the European Convention on Human Rights – the right to a family life between the man living in Britain and his family in Gaza.
This appeal was rejected, with a lack of a Palestinian resettlement scheme noted as a reason.
An appeal was launched at a higher tribunal – and one of the arguments was that the case should be considered on its own merits and not allow the lack of a Palestinian resettlement scheme to outweigh other arguments.
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The loophole
It is here that the “loophole” seems to have appeared.
At this point. Judge Norton-Taylor heard the case and allowed the appeal.
In his judgment, he stated that it was “wrong to have taken the absence of a resettlement scheme into account at all”.
The judge added that there was “no evidence” he had seen that the Home Office had made a deliberate decision not to implement a Palestinian resettlement scheme.
He also noted that the lack of immigration rules on a topic should not count against someone.
In layman’s terms, the argument seems to be that just because a scheme to resettle people does not exist it does not mean they are banned from coming to the UK via humanitarian routes.
The judgment said the absence of a “resettlement scheme was irrelevant” to their decision.
What next?
Judge Norton-Taylor went on to back the claim from the family in Gaza based on the ECHR and the right to a family life between them and their relative in Britain.
A Home Office spokesperson said: “The Ukraine Family scheme was clearly set out for Ukrainians. We have been clear that we do not agree with this judgment and we twice vigorously contested this case.
“As the prime minister made clear, article 8, the right to a family life, should be interpreted much more narrowly. It is for the government and Parliament to decide who should be covered by the UK’s safe and legal routes.
“We are pursuing all legal avenues to address the legal loophole which has been exploited in this case. The home secretary is urgently reviewing this case to ensure the correct processes are always followed and existing laws correctly interpreted.”
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They added that there was no evidence to support the argument and that data from the government shows a “very small” number of Gazans have been allowed to enter the UK – equal to roughly 150.
Sir Keir said he was planning to close the loophole, but it is not clear what this will entail.
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