School concrete scare - how schools in Berkshire & North Hampshire are affected
We've spoken to local authorities to find out more
Last updated 7th Sep 2023
It appears Berkshire and north Hampshire schools and colleges have avoided the worst impacts of the potentially dangerous concrete that is in the headlines at the moment.
We've been in touch with all the region's local authorities responsible for schools.
Two have been identified as having issues - St Francis Catholic Primary Academy School in Ascot and Cranbourne College in Basingstoke.
St Francis, Ascot
Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead Councillor Amy Tisi, Cabinet member for children’s services, education and Windsor, said:
“We understand this is a worrying time for schools, parents and pupils. At this stage, we are not aware of any RAAC (Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete) in any state schools in the Royal Borough, with the one exception of St Francis Catholic Primary School in Ascot. RAAC was identified in part of the school in July 2023, and the affected areas were closed.
“In liaison with the Department for Education and the council, the academy trust responsible for St Francis has arranged alternative classroom accommodation on-site to allow the school to re-open to all pupils at the start of the new academic year and has been in touch directly with parents around those arrangements.
“The Royal Borough continues to work closely with the Department of Education on its programme of RAAC identification in schools, and schools will keep parents updated with any developments.”
The Royal Borough is the Responsible Body for community and voluntary controlled schools. We commissioned a RAAC survey of our school buildings in 2022, and no RAAC was found.
The Responsible Bodies for academies (their academy trust) and voluntary aided schools (the Diocesan authorities) are responsible for their own buildings and for carrying out checks in relation to RAAC. We are not currently aware of any positive RAAC identification at any school in the borough other than St Francis Catholic Primary School, but continue to monitor the situation.
Cranbourne College, Basingstoke
A spokesperson for Hampshire County Council, said:
“No Hampshire school is being closed. We can confirm that Cranbourne College in Basingstoke is the only site where RAAC has been identified among our maintained schools. Temporary works have already been undertaken to one section of the building to make sure it is safe and another area has been taken out of use since the beginning of the year. However, the school has reopened for the new academic year as normal.”
We approached other councils for comment and this is what they had to say.
Reading Borough Council
A spokesperson said:
“The DfE has asked all bodies responsible for school buildings to confirm whether RAAC is present and to assess its condition. That work is ongoing in Reading and specialist surveyors have confirmed, of the local authority-maintained schools visited to date, no Reading school has at this stage been identified with such issues. A very small number of schools remain to be assessed and these should be completed over the coming days.
“Local academy trusts have also been contacted by the DfE to carry out their own reviews and BFFC (Brighter Futures for Children) have followed this up by writing directly to the trusts. Again, no issues have been reported to date.”
Wokingham Borough Council
Cllr Prue Bray, executive member for children’s services, Wokingham Borough Council.
“At present, no schools in the borough have been identified having RAAC used during their construction.
“We are following the DfE guidance to ensure that children and staff in our schools are safe and we will be arranging inspections in our Local Authority maintained schools during September. We have also written to academies and trusts in the borough to remind them of their responsibility to carry out similar inspections.
“We have written to the DfE expressing the council's concern about how this has been handled.”
West Berkshire Council
Councillor Heather Codling, Executive Member for Children, Education and Young People’s Services, said:
“I’m sure that, like me, many people will have been concerned by the news reports but I’d like to reassure them that our schools are safe. We have been following the national guidance, inspected the relevant schools and not found anything to worry about. Out of an abundance of caution there is a little more work to do at some of them but there is nothing to suggest there is any cause for concern.
“The start of the school year can be a busy and sometimes stressful time for parents and I hope that the reassurance we can offer in this regard makes that transition back to school a little bit easier.”