Concrete crisis: Why are schools struggling to pay for repairs?

Published

2 years ago

September 5, 2023

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The amount of money available for schools to repair and maintain their buildings has fallen by more than a quarter since 2010 (28%), a real terms cut of £2.2bn per year.

Since the Conservatives formed a majority government in 2015, the Department for Education’s capital budget has averaged £5.6bn per year – compared with £7.8bn per year in the last four years under Labour.

That is the money earmarked for things like construction, maintenance and repair work.

More than 100 schools and colleges have been told to shut buildings, partially or completely, because of concerns about the safety of the reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) used to construct them.

The Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has denied suggestions that he is to blame for cuts to schools’ repair and maintenance budgets, saying it was “completely and utterly wrong” to suggest he was to blame for failing to fully fund a programme to rebuild England’s crumbling schools.

Funding for the repair and maintenance of schools has fallen significantly since 2010, when Conservative education secretary Michael Gove scrapped Labour’s Building Schools for the Future Programme.

Since then, capital spending has remained far below levels seen under Labour, dropping to just £5bn during the pandemic before rising to £5.3bn last year.

Yet the department’s overall budget has grown significantly, from an average of £72bn per year during Labour’s last four years in office to £87bn under the Conservatives, a real terms increase of 23%.

The entirety of that increase has gone into the department’s fund for day-to-day spending, its resource budget, which has received an £18bn boost. At the same time, the capital budget has been cut by £2.2bn.

As a result, many schools in need of funding for repairs and maintenance have been raiding their resource budgets, which are used to pay salaries and energy bills, to fund capital projects.

A report released in June by the National Audit Office found that, in 2021-22, 71% of academy trusts used resource funding for capital projects, transferring a total of £518m from their day-to-day running costs – despite growing pressure on teachers’ pay and rising energy bills.

“The government’s own analysis shows that the school estate is in a very poor state of repair – that includes ceilings and concrete, but it also includes gas and electric,” says Luke Sibieta, a research fellow at the Institute for Fiscal Studies.

“Those sorts of issues can become urgent, so it’s not surprising at all to be seeing schools raiding their day-to-day budgets to spend on capital budgets – those capital expenditures may well be urgent.”

Schools’ electrical and plumbing systems are also in urgent need of repair

The report by the National Audit Office found, based on data from 2020, that schools required £8.5bn of repairs for issues “key to the building remaining usable and safe”, as well as £425m for things that “could present major issues”.

Among the most serious items were £2.5bn of repairs needed to schools’ electrical services, and £2.1bn to mechanical services such as plumbing.

Within the capital budget, the money ring-fenced specifically for maintenance and repairs has also fallen significantly in recent years.

The Department for Education spent £5bn on maintenance and repairs in the two years to March. Accounting for inflation in the construction sector, that is a drop of 20% compared with the two years to March 2017.

“It’s not surprising that we’re seeing a crisis in school repairs and school maintenance,” says Mr Sibieta.

“The government has been underinvesting in school repairs and maintenance for around 10-15 years now. The amount of spending falls short of what the government itself thinks it needs.

“As part of the spending review in 2020, the Department for Education thought we needed around £5.3bn per year just to repair and maintain the existing school estate. In the end, the Treasury allocated around £3bn per year.”

What is RAAC?

Also known as ‘bubbly’ concrete, reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) is a building material that was popular in the post-war period as a cheap, lightweight alternative to traditional concrete mixes. It was used in UK public buildings from the 1950s to the 1990s, mostly in roofing.

Its convenience came at a cost, however, as the material was found to be less durable than ‘traditional’ reinforced concrete and is prone to crumbling and cracking, especially after exposure to moisture.

Failures in RAAC roof panels started to become apparent in the 1980s, and a string of reports identified its weaknesses and short 30-year lifespan.

The issue reignited in 2018, when a Kent school roof containing RAAC collapsed, although no one was injured.

Then this summer, an RAAC beam previously thought to be low risk collapsed, leading the government to label all buildings containing RAAC potentially dangerous and order the closure of classrooms in hundreds of schools.

Sarah Skinner, chief executive of the Penrose Learning Trust, has been forced to close 12 classrooms at Surrey’s East Bergholt High School due to the presence of RAAC.

She has secured six temporary replacements, but hasn’t been told when they’ll be available.

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“Once we get the porta cabins, we will get children back, but they won’t have specialist resourcing,” she says.

“We think it will be months before the remedial works can be undertaken – at a huge cost. So, I am worried about getting children back in classrooms before Christmas.”

The Data and Forensics team is a multi-skilled unit dedicated to providing transparent journalism from Sky News. We gather, analyse and visualise data to tell data-driven stories. We combine traditional reporting skills with advanced analysis of satellite images, social media and other open source information. Through multimedia storytelling we aim to better explain the world while also showing how our journalism is done.

Politics

First Chinese CNH stablecoin debuts as global race heats up

Published

5 hours ago

September 21, 2025

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First Chinese CNH stablecoin debuts as global race heats up

Governments around the world are exploring and launching stablecoins to remain competitive against dollar-pegged digital fiat tokens.

Politics

Sir Ed Davey brands Elon Musk a criminal and calls for his arrest for ‘allowing online harm to children’

Published

17 hours ago

September 21, 2025

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Sir Ed Davey brands Elon Musk a criminal and calls for his arrest for 'allowing online harm to children'

Sir Ed Davey has branded Elon Musk a criminal and called for him to be prosecuted for “allowing online harm to children” on his social media platform X.

The Lib Dem leader told Sky News’ Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips the billionaire owner of X, formerly Twitter, is “inciting violence” and his social media platform is actively failing to protect children.

Sir Ed, speaking from the Lib Dem conference in Bournemouth, said Mr Musk could be prosecuted under the Online Safety Act, under which social media companies have a legal duty to protect children from harmful content and their directors are liable for criminal prosecution for breaching it.

Asked if he is calling Mr Musk a criminal, Sir Ed did not miss a beat as he said: “Yes.

“Not just because of the awful things he’s done in inciting violence, and, for example, he says a civil war in our country is inevitable, that our democratically elected government should be overthrown.

“They were bad enough. But on his platform, they’re examples of adverse, pushing people on self-harm, on grooming, even selling videos showing paedophile acts, of child sex abuse acts and I think he should be held to account for them, him personally and his business.

“Ofcom now has the powers under the Online Safety Act.”

He said if Mr Musk comes to the UK, he should be arrested.

Mr Musk was accused of inciting violence during a march organised by Tommy Robinson in London last week.

He told the protest via video link: “This is a message to the reasonable centre, the people who ordinarily wouldn’t get involved in politics, who just want to live their lives. They don’t want that, they’re quiet, they just go about their business.

“My message is to them: if this continues, that violence is going to come to you, you will have no choice. You’re in a fundamental situation here.

“Whether you choose violence or not, violence is coming to you. You either fight back or you die, that’s the truth, I think.”

Sir Ed said it is “shocking” that Mr Musk removed some of X’s child safety teams when he took over Twitter in 2022 and accused him of just being “interested in his bank account”.

“I’m interested in the safety of our children, and it is quite wrong that his business puts on these adverts,” said the Lib Dem leader.

“It’s disgusting and I hope everybody will agree with me and the Liberal Democrats that we should take really strong action against him.”

After Mr Musk acquired Twitter, many of its child safety staff were laid off or resigned, and the platform’s trust and safety council was disbanded.

Child protection experts have accused Mr Musk of leading a “race to the bottom on safety”.

Ofcom, the UK’s independent media regulator, which has the power to prosecute directors of social media platforms under the Online Safety Act, has launched an investigation into X’s handling of child sexual abuse content.

This is not the first time Sir Ed has hit out at the world’s richest man, as he called for the US ambassador to be summoned in February “to ask why an incoming US official is suggesting the UK government should be overthrown”.

Mr Musk reacted by calling Sir Ed a “snivelling cretin”.

Sir Ed is expected to reiterate his call for Mr Musk’s arrest at his conference speech on Tuesday.

He will accuse Mr Musk of being motivated by “his own ego, power and wealth, rather than the rights and freedoms of the British people”.

The Lib Dems will also table a parliamentary motion summoning Mr Musk to the House of Commons “to be reprimanded for his actions”.

Sky News has approached X and Elon Musk for comment, but as of publication has received no response.

X maintains it has “zero tolerance for child sexual abuse material” and claims tackling those who exploit children is a “top priority”.

Politics

Sir Keir Starmer set to announce formal recognition of Palestine as a state

Published

17 hours ago

September 21, 2025

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Starmer to announce formal recognition of Palestine as a state

The UK will formally recognise Palestine as a state, it is understood.

Sir Keir Starmer is expected to make the announcement today after he said in July that the government would make the move unless Israel met certain conditions.

The prime minister had called on Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to take substantive steps to end the “appalling situation in Gaza“, agree to a ceasefire, commit to a long-term sustainable peace, allow the UN to restart the supply of aid, and not annex the West Bank.

The Israeli foreign ministry furiously rejected his statement, with Mr Netanyahu claiming that “Starmer rewards Hamas‘s monstrous terrorism and punishes its victims”.

Ilay David, brother of Hamas hostage Evyatar David, who was seen emaciated in a video last month, said giving recognition was “like saying to Hamas: ‘It is OK, you can keep starving the hostages, you can keep using them as human shields.’

“This kind of recognition gives Hamas power to be stubborn in negotiations. That is the last thing we need right now.”

There has been no ceasefire, and the situation in Gaza has deteriorated, with a declaration of a famine in Gaza City and the expansion of Israeli military operations.

Israel has launched a major ground offensive to seize all of Gaza City and destroy Hamas in an operation which has prompted widespread condemnation, with UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper calling it “utterly reckless and appalling”.

Earlier this month, a UN commission of inquiry concluded that Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. Israel said the claim was “distorted and false”.

The UK will join 147 of the 193 members of the UN who recognise Palestine ahead of the UN General Assembly in New York on Monday.

Other nations, including France, Australia and Canada, have said they plan to take the same step at the UN gathering as part of a broad international effort to put pressure on Israel.

And the Muslim Council of Britain welcomed the prime minister’s move, but urged that recognition must also come with “tangible action”.

During a joint news conference with the prime minister at Chequers on Thursday, Donald Trump said he disagreed with recognition, and US politicians have urged the UK and other allies to reverse their stance.

Sky News understands that Israel is considering options in response to the UK’s decision, but the strength of that reaction is still under consideration.

Family members of some of the 48 hostages still in captivity, after Hamas and other militant groups stormed into Israel on 7 October 2023, have written an open letter to Sir Keir, condemning the move.

“Hamas has already celebrated the UK’s decision as a victory and reneged on a ceasefire deal,” they said.

“We write to you with a simple plea – do not take this step until our loved ones are home and in our arms.”

Meanwhile shadow foreign secretary Dame Priti Patel accused the prime minister of “capitulating” to his backbenchers to shore up his leadership.

“With the terrorist organisation Hamas still holding hostages in barbaric conditions and glorifying acts of terror, Starmer is sending a dangerous message, where violence and extremism are tolerated and rewarded,” she said.

The UK government is understood to be looking at further sanctions on Hamas, and has demanded the group release all hostages, agree to an immediate ceasefire, accept it will have no role in governing Gaza, and commit to disarmament.