Unsafe concrete crisis could extend to other public buildings, experts warn

Published

2 years ago

September 2, 2023

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The crisis over unsafe concrete in schools may extend beyond the education sector to other types of public buildings, experts have warned.

They say the scale of the problem with reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) is “much bigger than schools” and could include hospitals, police stations, and court buildings.

Even private sector sites such as shopping centres and residential tower blocks could also be impacted, experts say.

Meanwhile, Labour MP Dame Meg Hillier, chairwoman of parliament’s Public Accounts Committee, has warned the issues with RAAC in schools are just the “tip of the iceberg” of maintenance issues for sites across England.

It comes after 104 schools and colleges were told by the Department for Education (DfE) to partially or fully shut buildings just days before the start of the new school year over fears about the safety of facilities built with RAAC.

Labour has called for an “urgent audit” across the public sector estate, while the Liberal Democrats say the public must be given “urgent clarity” over whether hospital wards and buildings could also be forced to close.

Politics latest: More classrooms could shut over collapsing concrete fears

RAAC is essentially a lighter-weight form of concrete, used to build roofs, schools, colleges and other buildings from the 1950s until the mid-1990s,

But experts fear that the material has now reached the end of its shelf life and is liable to collapse.

Though not confirmed, it is estimated that around 24 schools in England have been told to close entirely because of the presence of RAAC.

Schools minister Nick Gibb has admitted more could be asked to shut classrooms.

But the problem could be far wider than just schools, experts say, with other buildings at risk of “sudden and catastrophic collapse” if RAAC is not removed.

Chris Goodier, professor of construction engineering and materials at Loughborough University, said the “scale of the problem is much bigger than schools”.

What is Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete?

Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete – handily shortened to RAAC – is essentially a lightweight form of concrete.

It was used to build roofs, schools, colleges and other buildings from the 1950s until the mid-1990s, according to GOV.UK.

In comparison to traditional concrete, RAAC is weaker. It is made in factories using fine aggregate, with chemicals to create gas bubbles and heat.

Both the material properties and structural behaviour differs significantly from traditional reinforced concrete.

In 2019, the Standing Committee on Structural Safety highlighted the significant risk of failure of RAAC planks.

Three years later in 2022, the Office of Government Property sent a safety briefing notice to all property leaders, saying that “RAAC is now life-expired and liable to collapse”.

Chris Goodier, professor of construction engineering and materials at Loughborough University, said: “It is RAAC from the 1950s, 60s and 70s that is of main concern, especially if it has not been adequately maintained.

“RAAC examples have been found with bearings (supports) which aren’t big enough, and RAAC with the steel reinforcement in the wrong place, both of which can have structural implications.”

He says it could cover public sectors including health, defence, and justice, as well as some private sector buildings.

NHS providers have already identified 14 hospitals, which were constructed “either wholly or in major part with RAAC”. Seven of these are considered “critical” and not fit for purpose beyond 2030.

Three buildings operated by Police Scotland have also been found to contain RAAC after an investigation of 65 structures.

Matt Byatt, president of the Institution of Structural Engineers, says any high-rise buildings with flat roofs constructed between the late 1960s and early 1990s may also contain RAAC.

According to Dame Meg, the DfE has been aware of a “significant problem” with RAAC since a roof collapse in 2018.

She warns that this week’s announcement could have a “significant impact” on the department’s wider school maintenance programmes.

In an opinion piece in The Times newspaper, she writes: “At our hearing in July it was clear that officials were being thorough with the proportion of school buildings they were working on, including the surveys of 600 schools with RAAC which have led to this week’s decision.

“But this is the tip of the iceberg of a failing school estate in England. Most of the 700,000 pupils currently being educated in substandard buildings are not in RAAC buildings and will now be waiting longer for the improvements they need.”

Around 104 schools or “settings” in England found with concrete prone to collapse are set to be closed or disrupted – on top of 52 that have already been affected this year.

The government says the schools needed to close because of safety fears, which have arisen due to concrete failing “with no warning”.

While the DfE has previously focused on remediation, Mr Gibb says the department is now taking the “cautious approach” that all of the concrete should be removed.

Labour is calling on ministers to “come clean” and publish the full list of schools that will be impacted, as they have not yet been publicly named.

It has also accused the government of “neglect and incompetence” over their handling of the issue.

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Politics

Make ‘significant adjustments’ to Online Safety Act, X urges govt

Published

2 hours ago

August 2, 2025

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X criticises Online Safety Act - and warns it's putting free speech in the UK at risk

The Online Safety Act is putting free speech at risk and needs significant adjustments, Elon Musk’s social network X has warned.

New rules that came into force last week require platforms such as Facebook, YouTube, TikTok and X – as well as sites hosting pornography – to bring in measures to prove that someone using them is over the age of 18.

The Online Safety Act requires sites to protect children and to remove illegal content, but critics have said that the rules have been implemented too broadly, resulting in the censorship of legal content.

X has warned the act’s laudable intentions were “at risk of being overshadowed by the breadth of its regulatory reach”.

It said: “When lawmakers approved these measures, they made a conscientious decision to increase censorship in the name of ‘online safety’.

“It is fair to ask if UK citizens were equally aware of the trade-off being made.”

X claims the timetable for platforms to meet mandatory measures had been unnecessarily tight – and despite complying, sites still faced threats of enforcement and fines, “encouraging over-censorship”.

“A balanced approach is the only way to protect individual liberties, encourage innovation and safeguard children. It’s safe to say that significant changes must take place to achieve these objectives in the UK,” it said.

A UK government spokesperson said it is “demonstrably false” that the Online Safety Act compromises free speech.

“As well as legal duties to keep children safe, the very same law places clear and unequivocal duties on platforms to protect freedom of expression,” they added.

Users have complained about age checks that require personal data to be uploaded to access sites that show pornography, and 468,000 people have already signed a petition asking for the new law to be repealed.

In response to the petition, the government said it had “no plans” to reverse the Online Safety Act.

Reform UK’s leader Nigel Farage likened the new rules to “state suppression of genuine free speech” and said his party would ditch the regulations.

Technology Secretary Peter Kyle said on Tuesday that those who wanted to overturn the act were “on the side of predators” – to which Mr Farage demanded an apology, calling Mr Kyle’s comments “absolutely disgusting”.

Regulator Ofcom said on Thursday it had launched an investigation into how four companies – that collectively run 34 pornography sites – are complying with new age-check requirements.

These companies – 8579 LLC, AVS Group Ltd, Kick Online Entertainment S.A. and Trendio Ltd – run dozens of sites, and collectively have more than nine million unique monthly UK visitors, the internet watchdog said.

The regulator said it prioritised the companies based on the risk of harm posed by the services they operated and their user numbers.

It adds to the 11 investigations already in progress into 4chan, as well as an unnamed online suicide forum, seven file-sharing services, and two adult websites.

Ofcom said it expects to make further enforcement announcements in the coming months.

Politics

Inside Jeremy Corbyn’s new party and the battle for leadership

Published

4 hours ago

August 2, 2025

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Inside Jeremy Corbyn's new party and the battle for leadership

Zarah Sultana and Jeremy Corbyn may be the figureheads of a new left-wing party, but already there is a battle over leadership.

The confusion behind the initial launch speaks to a wider debate happening behind closed doors as to who should steer the party – now and in the future.

Already, in the true spirit of Mr Corbyn’s politics, there is talk of an open leadership contest and grassroots participation.

Some supporters of the new party – which is being temporarily called “Your Party” while a formal name is decided by members – believe that allowing a leadership contest to take place honours Mr Corbyn’s commitment to open democracy.

They point out that under Mr Corbyn’s leadership of the Labour Party, members famously backed plans to make it easier for local constituency parties to deselect sitting MPs – a concept he strongly believed in.

His allies now say the former Labour leader, who is 76, is open to there being a leadership contest for the new party, possibly at its inaugural conference in the autumn, where names lesser known than himself can throw their hat into the ring.

“Jeremy would rather die than not have an open leadership contest,” one source familiar with the internal politics told Sky News.

However, there have been suggestions that Ms Sultana appears to be less keen on the idea of a leadership contest, and that she is more committed to the co-leadership model than her political partner.

Those who have been opposed to the co-leadership model believe it could give Ms Sultana an unfair advantage and exclude other potential candidates from standing in the future.

One source told Sky News they believed Mr Corbyn should lead the party for two years, to get it established, before others are allowed to stand as leader.

They said Ms Sultana, who became an independent MP after she was suspended from Labour for opposing the two-child benefit cap, was “highly ambitious but completely untested as leader” and “had a lot of growing into the role to do”.

“It’s not about her – it’s about taking a democratic approach, which is what we’re supposed to be doing,” they said.

“There are so many people who have done amazing things locally and they need to have a chance to emerge as leaders.

“We are not only fishing from a pool of two people.

“It needs to be an open contest. Nobody needs to be crowned.”

While Mr Corbyn and Ms Sultana undoubtedly have the biggest profiles out of would-be leaders, advocates for a grassroots approach to the leadership point to the success some independent candidates have enjoyed at a local level – for example, 24-year-old British Palestinian Leah Mohammed, who came within 528 votes of unseating Health Secretary Wes Streeting in Ilford North.

Fiona Lali of the Revolutionary Communist Party, who stood in last year’s general election for the Stratford and Bow constituency, has also been mentioned in some circles as someone with potential leadership credentials.

However, sources close to Mr Corbyn and Ms Sultana downplayed suggestions of any divide over the leadership model, pointing out that their joint statement acknowledged that members would “decide the party’s direction” at the inaugural conference in the autumn, including the model of leadership and the policies that are needed to transform society.

A spokesperson for Mr Corbyn told Sky News: “Jeremy will be working with Zarah, his independent colleagues, and people from trade unions and social movements up and down the country to make an autumn conference a reality.

“This will be the moment where people come together to launch a new democratic party that belongs to the members.”

Sky News has approached Ms Sultana for comment.

Politics

DeFi Education Fund urges Senate to strengthen crypto dev protections in draft bill

Published

6 hours ago

August 2, 2025

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DeFi Education Fund urges Senate to strengthen crypto dev protections in draft bill

DeFi Education Fund called on the Senate Banking Committee to frame a key crypto market bill in a more tech-neutral way and strengthen crypto developer protections in a recent letter.