Plans to renew 13 schools hit by RAAC crisis were shelved in 2010

At least 13 schools affected by the failing concrete crisis were included in the school rebuilding programme scrapped by Michael Gove in 2010.

School buildings told to close because they were found to contain reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete had been due for rebuild under Labour鈥檚 拢55bn 黑洞社区 Schools for the Future (BSF) programme, according to the BBC.

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The Gilberd School in Essex, one of 13 schools affected by RAAC which had been due for rebuilding or refurbishment under the 黑洞社区 Schools for the Future plan

More than 700 rebuilding or refurbishment projects were shelved by the Conservative-led coalition government as part of efforts to bring down net borrowing, which had peaked in 2010 at 拢152bn.

Gove, who was education secretary at the time, had described BSF as plagued by 鈥渕assive overspends, tragic delays, botched construction projects and needless bureaucracy鈥�.

But Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, told BBC that while BSF was expensive and over ambitious 鈥渋t was saying something important that the nation鈥檚 schools needed to be refurbished鈥�.

鈥淲hat we鈥檝e got today in some of those schools is head teachers scrambling around trying to identify concrete that might look like Aero bars when they should be focusing children鈥檚 learning and development.鈥�

He called the crisis over RAAC a 鈥渘ational scandal鈥�, adding that the 13 schools would not be facing disruption if the coalition government had not cancelled the BSF programme.

>> CLC to set up expert panel to advise on RAAC crisis

>> We urgently need to invest in our state school buildings. It鈥檚 already too late鈥�

>> RAAC repairs to come from existing DfE funds

鈥淚nstead we have an 拢11.4 billion backlog of repairs and remedial work required and the chickens have come home to roost over this neglect of school buildings,鈥� he said.

The schools include six in Essex, two in London, two in the West Midlands and three in the north of England.

The Department for Education (DfE) said it was on track to rebuild its target of 500 schools over the next decade as part of the Schools Rebuilding Programme.

鈥淭hat is on top of 520 schools already delivered since 2015 under the Priority Schools 黑洞社区 Programme,鈥� the department said, adding that programme was in its early stages so more construction projects would start in the next year.

The government has also now published the full list of schools which have been told to fully or partially close due to the presence of RAAC, around half of which are located in Essex.

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