The cost of fixing the school buildings crisis in England is approaching £150m and could rise much further, according to Guardian estimates based on figures from the construction industry, government and schools.
The price of removing aerated concrete panels, which the government warns are “liable to collapse with little or no notice”, is likely to put pressure on Downing Street to launch an urgent major rebuilding programme instead of temporary fixes.
School leaders are calling for the complete replacement of many of the affected buildings, which were constructed in the 1960s and 1970s and have other problems, including wiring malfunctions and leaks.
Nick Gibb, the education minister, on Tuesday described the government’s response to the Raac crisis as “world-leading”. Asked how much fixing it was going to cost, he said he did not know. “In some schools it will just be a room or a cupboard … in others it will be pervasive throughout a school,” he said.
A government survey of the state of 22,000 schools in England in 2021 revealed a growing need for repairs, with a bill for future works already at £11.4bn. More than half of that was for schools built between 1961 and 1980, the heyday for Raac (reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete).
That estimate came before ministers last week announced that any school with Raac in any condition needed to stop using affected buildings, instead of only those where the lightweight material was considered to be in a critical condition.
