Nottinghamshire County Council leader claims authority did everything it could to help academy after potentially unsafe RAAC concrete issue discovered

A council has defended it’s response to the discovery of potentially unsafe concrete in a Newark school.

Investigations into potentially unsafe concrete in Nottinghamshire schools first began five years ago and found no issues in publicly-run sites, the county council says.

The Department for Education (DfE) asked councils and academy trusts to begin investigating reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) in 2018 to 2019.

Assessments found the potentially crumbling material was not present in any local authority-led sites — or in any of the council’s own buildings.

Recent examinations found the material in one academy trust-led site, though the council’s leader insists the authority did “everything it can” to help trust bosses upon changing Government guidance this year.

RAAC is a lightweight, bubbly form of concrete usually found within roofs but sometimes in walls and floors.

It was favoured in construction projects from the 1950s to the mid-1990s before being found to be weak and less durable than traditional concrete.

Experts say it is susceptible to failure as it deteriorates over time, with a life expectancy of little more than 30 years.

Changing Whitehall guidance this summer meant any public buildings or schools found with the material needed to have these issues addressed.

It led to a list of more than 100 schools being published, with the DfE requiring some to close or partially close just as pupils returned to classrooms.

This included Holy Trinity Academy, Newark, which was the only Nottinghamshire education centre found with the material.

The primary academy — run by the Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Multi-Academy Trust — said the failing material was of “mainly low and medium risk”.

It took steps to ensure its site was safe, including using temporary classrooms and a nearby parish centre to protect the safety of staff and pupils.

This delayed the reopening of its school by about a week but the trust said it was doing all it could to reduce the impact on children’s education.

The issue was discussed at Nottinghamshire County Council’s full council meeting yesterday (September 28).

In the meeting, Ben Bradley, the council’s leader and Mansfield MP said: “Work to investigate and tackle RAAC in school buildings in Nottinghamshire began on DfE advice in 2018 to 2019.

“No RAAC was identified in maintained schools, which are the ones in our responsibility.

“There’s been no need — up until national guidance changed over the summer — to really get involved in this.

“When the guidance did change, I was informed there was no issue [in local schools].”

His comments followed Michelle Welsh asking how long the council leader and the authority had been aware of RAAC.

She added: “On September 6, you said our council had been doing survey work with the DfE since 2018 to 2019 and that the council had very good data and information to tackle the situation quickly.

“This means since day one, you had knowledge of RAAC in a Nottinghamshire school — whether it’s an academy or not.

“Was this at your fingertips... until this became a national scandal and are you relieved your inaction didn’t result in serious harm?”

In response, Mr Bradley said the survey work was done following Government requests several years ago but insisted no issues were found in buildings run by the authority.

However, on the Holy Trinity issue, he added: “The whole public sector family gathered around that school and aimed to support them, including Newark and Sherwood Council to offer some land.

“Within a matter of a couple of days, plans were in place to make sure the school could remain open and it was a gradual reopening where schools were allowed back in phases.

“We did everything we needed to do as a council... and we were able to support the one academy trust where it was an issue.”