RAAC: Collapse-prone concrete found in parliament
Collapse-prone concrete has been found in the Houses of Parliament.
Reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete, known as RAAC, was a common building material used in the post-war era as it was cheaper and lighter than traditional concrete.
But it is now proving a nightmare for the government as it has been found to have a 30-year lifespan before becoming susceptible to collapse.
Politics latest: Former MI6 chief ‘concerned’ about who has access to parliament
Hundreds of schools have been checked for RAAC – with some told to partially or fully close buildings – while hospitals and airports have also been found to contain the concrete.
A parliamentary spokesperson said: “As part of routine ongoing investigations, RAAC was identified in one area of the Palace [of Westminster].
“Structural engineers have confirmed there is no immediate risk. Where RAAC is found, mitigations will be put in place as necessary.”
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
PM denies limiting school repairs fund
It is understood the concrete was found in an area which was built in 1974.
Elsewhere, more than 600 schools have now been checked for RAAC, according to senior Department for Education (DfE) officials.
A list of 147 schools where RAAC had been found was released last week, but this was already a week out of date.
Permanent secretary at DfE, Susan Acland-Hood, and chief operating officer Jane Cunliffe appeared before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on Monday.
Ms Cunliffe said that in more than 600 schools assessed, two-thirds had not been found to have RAAC.
But the officials could not confirm how many surveys they were waiting to get back from schools.
Ms Cunliffe said: “It is very fast moving, we are doing tens of surveys every day.”
Read more:
Minister swears on camera in school concrete rant
What is RAAC and why was it used so much?
List of schools in England affected by unsafe concrete
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Headteacher’s anger at clip of minister swearing
Meanwhile, Ms Acland-Hood praised Education Secretary Gillian Keegan, who was caught on camera last week complaining about not being thanked for doing a “f****** good job” over the unsafe concrete crisis, while others “sat on their arses”.
The official told MPs: “The secretary of state has been generous in recognising work done in the department.
“I don’t think she did intend to suggest others hadn’t been working hard. All I can say is on behalf of the department, I am really grateful.
“I think schools, responsible bodies and teachers up and down the country have worked unbelievably hard in what were very difficult circumstances, at short notice.”
Click to subscribe to the Sky News Daily wherever you get your podcasts
Concerns about the safety of the parliamentary estate – including fire risks and the presence of asbestos – have been longstanding for the mainly Victorian-era building.
Restoration is forecasted to cost several billion pounds, with both the Lords and Commons potentially having to relocate while work is carried out.
The deal was announced in response to the White House’s recent policy strategy to make the United States the AI capital of the world.
Nomura’s crypto arm gains regulatory green light in Dubai to offer institutional OTC crypto options, expanding the UAE’s footprint in global digital derivatives.
Safeguarding minister Jess Phillips has told Sky News that councils that believe they don’t have a problem with grooming gangs are “idiots” – as she denied Elon Musk influenced the decision to have a national inquiry on the subject.
The minister said: “I don’t follow Elon Musk’s advice on anything although maybe I too would like to go to Mars.
“Before anyone even knew Elon Musk’s name, I was working with the victims of these crimes.”
Politics latest: Starmer responds to report suggesting tax rises needed
Elon Musk. Pic: Reuters
Mr Musk had called Ms Phillips a “rape genocide apologist” in one of a series of inflammatory posts on X in January and said she should go to jail.
Mr Musk, then a close aide of US President Donald Trump, sparked a significant political row with his comments – with the Conservative Party and Reform UK calling for a new public inquiry into grooming gangs.
At the time, Ms Phillips denied a request for a public inquiry into child sexual exploitation in Oldham on the basis that it should be done at a local level.
But the government announced a national inquiry after Baroness Casey’s rapid audit on grooming gangs, which was published in June.
Asked if she thought there was, in the words of Baroness Casey, “over representation” among suspects of Asian and Pakistani men, Ms Phillips replied: “My own experience of working with many young girls in my area – yes there is a problem. There are different parts of the country where the problem will look different, organised crime has different flavours across the board.
“But I have to look at the evidence… and the government reacts to the evidence.”
Ms Phillips also said the home secretary has written to all police chiefs telling them that data collection on ethnicity “has to change”, to ensure that it is always recorded, promising “we will legislate to change the way this [collection] is done if necessary”.
Read more:
Chancellor warned ‘substantial tax rises’ needed
Minister admits UK-France migrant returns could be ‘frustrated’ by legal challenges
Operation Beaconport has since been established, led by the National Crime Agency (NCA), and will be reviewing more than 1,200 closed cases of child sexual exploitation.
Ms Phillips revealed that at least “five, six” councils have asked to be a part of the national review – and denounced councils that believed they don’t have a problem with grooming gangs as “idiots”.
“I don’t want [the inquiry] just to go over places that have already had inquiries and find things the Casey had already identified,” she said.
She confirmed that a shortlist for a chair has been drawn up, and she expects the inquiry to be finished within three years.
Ms Phillips’s comments come after she announced £426,000 of funding to roll out artificial intelligence tools across all 43 police forces in England and Wales to speed up investigations into modern slavery, child sex abuse and county lines gangs.
Some 13 forces have access to the AI apps, which the Home Office says have saved more than £20m and 16,000 hours for investigators.
The apps can translate large amounts of text in foreign languages and analyse data to find relationships between suspects.
-
Sports3 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports1 year agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports2 years agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Sports2 years agoButton battles heat exhaustion in NASCAR debut
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike