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<p>The safety of pupils and staff is vital. This is why the Department has been significantly
investing in transforming schools across the country. Where there are serious safety
issues with a building, the Department takes immediate and swift action to ensure
the safety of pupils and school staff.</p><p>It is the responsibility of those who
run schools – academy trusts, local authorities, and voluntary-aided school bodies
– who work with their schools to manage the safety and maintenance of their schools.
They should alert the Department if there is a concern with a building.</p><p>The
Department provides these responsible bodies with significant funding targeted toward
where it is most needed to help them carry out these responsibilities, alongside a
package of other guidance and support that the National Audit Office (NAO) found was
comprehensive and well regarded by the sector.</p><p>The Department allocates significant
funding to those responsible for the school estate to improve their buildings. This
is over £15 billion since 2015, including 1.8 billion committed for the 2023/24 financial
year.</p><p>The School Rebuilding Programme is transforming buildings at 500 schools
over the course of the next decade, prioritising schools in poor condition. The Department
has announced 400 schools to date, including 239 in December 2022.</p><p>As set out
by the NAO, buildings can normally be used beyond their estimated initial design life
through regular maintenance and upgrades.</p><p>CDC1 and CDC2 are high level Condition
Data Collection (CDC) programmes, the largest such surveys of UK public sector buildings.
They allow the Department to understand the condition of the school estate over time
and inform capital funding and programmes.</p><p>Individual reports are shared with
every school and their responsible bodies, to help inform their investment plans alongside
their own more detailed condition surveys and safety checks.</p><p>The Department
is working with responsible bodies, schools, and colleges to support them through
the process of investigation, assessment, and management of Reinforced Autoclaved
Aerated Concrete (RAAC).</p><p>The Department has been communicating with schools
about the potential risks of RAAC since 2018, when the Department first published
a warning note with the Local Government Association.</p><p>Since then, the Department
has published guidance in identifying and managing RAAC. In March 2022, the Department
asked all schools to share their knowledge of RAAC, its presence in their buildings,
and how they are managing it. The Department is following up rigorously to ensure
as complete a response as possible.</p><p>The Department continues to urge all responsible
bodies to get in touch with it immediately if they have any concerns about their school
building. The Department relies on this information to enable it to take swift action.</p><p>The
questionnaire is still open for responses from responsible bodies and schools, and
the Department also encourages settings to update their responses if their situation
changes.</p><p>The Department’s professional surveyors have already carried out over
200 assessments where RAAC is suspected to verify its presence and assess its condition.
The Department is on track to complete 600 assessments by autumn, ahead of the initial
forecast of December 2023.</p><p>In cases where RAAC is confirmed, the Department
provides rapid support to schools on the advice of structural engineers. This could
include funding capital works to remove any immediate risk and, where absolutely necessary,
the provision of temporary buildings.</p><p>Longer term remediation of RAAC is supported
by capital funding provided to the sector, the Department’s rebuilding programme and
urgent capital support.</p>
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