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School closures due to crumbling concrete

284 replies

HoliHormonalTigerLillyTheSecond · 01/09/2023 06:02

JFC you are kidding me?!

https://amp.theguardian.com/education/2023/aug/31/english-schools-told-to-close-buildings-made-with-crumble-risk-concrete]

OP posts:
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Dymaxion · 01/09/2023 20:37

Someone will die:(

Possibly but if the powers that be have corporate manslaughter insurance maybe it won't matter too much to those in charge. Still much cheaper to pay out for a few dead people, than actually fix the problem.

QEH hospital roof help up by props

Props holding up King's Lynn hospital roof rises to 2,400

Situation at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital is "far from ideal" for patients and staff, trust admits.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-norfolk-63137642

DailyMaui · 01/09/2023 20:40

thecatsthecats · 01/09/2023 11:12

As a complete ignoramus whose husband happens to work in the civil service housing provider, the weird thing is, Gove has a reasonable reputation compared to his peers for actually proactively trying to get shit done, and to some kind of quality standard that's based on actual needs.

Which just goes to show how truly fucked the other departments are - Gove is the bar they have to stumble over drunkenly at a Christmas party.

Ah my husband is a Civil Servant in Communities/Levellling up/whatever they are calling it these days.

After Grenfell he had to make lists of all buildings in the UK with that particular cladding. I wonder what he will be up to after we return from holiday.

He agreed that "compared to others Gove is known to have a better grasp of policy." He does agree that the bar is very, very low though...

EffortlessDesmond · 01/09/2023 20:52

I know the current vibe is violently anti-Tory, and that they are a shit-faced mess of an excuse for a functioning government, but on this occasion the blame lies most with local councils trying to cut corners. The school rebuilding programme fell foul of PFI costs... if they had all been allowed, the costs would still be increasing for another decade.

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about this subject:

noblegiraffe · 01/09/2023 20:56

but on this occasion the blame lies most with local councils trying to cut corners.

Eh? Not the govt who reduced spending on school buildings by 50% between 2010 and 2022?

Dymaxion · 01/09/2023 20:59

I know the current vibe is violently anti-Tory, and that they are a shit-faced mess of an excuse for a functioning government, but on this occasion the blame lies most with local councils trying to cut corners.

Why are they trying to cut corners ? their budgets have been absolutely slashed under this Government, they have very little money for the day to day stuff never mind rebuilding a load of schools.

Echobelly · 01/09/2023 20:59

They've known about this for years... years, and they literally couldn't even think to, at a bare minimum, tell schools at the beginning of the summer holidays to give them time to plan something. One friend has been affected by this that I know of but I expect there will be others.

MsMcGonagall · 01/09/2023 21:04

thecatsthecats · 01/09/2023 09:44

The schools question is obviously pressing, but I was wondering where else RAAC might be used? It can't just have been schools?

Anyone who knows this sort of thing know?

Two estates of council houses near me were pulled down and rebuilt (nicer) because of this concrete issue.

bellamountain · 01/09/2023 21:07

In this case, all private schools in the area of these schools should be made to loan out their facilities for teaching. If they don't have the room, they can provide marquees or gyms.

Dymaxion · 01/09/2023 21:12

Will Academy schools be treated differently to those who are under a LA, I think they get their funding direct from the Government ? Do LA's have any responsibility for Academy schools ?

PumpkinSoup21 · 01/09/2023 21:13

bellamountain · 01/09/2023 21:07

In this case, all private schools in the area of these schools should be made to loan out their facilities for teaching. If they don't have the room, they can provide marquees or gyms.

Couldn’t agree more.

Hippopotaperson · 01/09/2023 21:15

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/bd7953ca-483b-11ee-9359-63e432ab6148?shareToken=7fb60b74ec214783c4b41009149887c0

Abbey Lane Primary School
Sheffield • S8 0BN

Crossflatts Primary
Bingley • BD16 2EP

Eldwick Primary
Bingley • BD16 3LE

Ferryhill Secondary School
Ferryhill • DL17 8RW

Willowbrook Mead Primary Academy
Leicester • LE5 2NA

Parks Primary
Leicester • LE3 9NZ

Corpus Christi Catholic Primary School
London • SW2 5BL

St Andrew's Junior School
Chelmsford • CM3 2JX

Hockley Primary School
Hockley • SS5 4UR

Forres Academy
Moray • IV36 1FG

Cranbourne College
Basingstoke • RG21 3NP

Birchington Church of England Primary School
Birchington • CT7 0AS

Sunny Bank Primary School
Sittingbourne • ME10 3QN

Palmarsh Primary School
Hythe • CT21 6NE

St. James Church of England Primary School
Tunbridge Wells • TN2 3PR

Kingsdown School
Southend-on-Sea • SS2 6XT

Anglo European School
Ingatestone • CM4 0DJ

The Bromfords School
Wickford • SS12 0LZ

Fitzwimarc School
Rayleigh • SS6 8EB

Mistley Norman Church of England Primary School
Manningtree • CO11 1LS

Hockley Primary School
Hockley • SS5 4UR

Springfield Primary
Sunbury-on-Thames • TW16 6LY

there seem to be a lot pdf schools around the Southend area of Essex on the list

Which schools are closing due to concrete risk? The list so far

Surveyors have found a type of concrete in more than 150 schools that has reached the end of its safe life and is in danger of collapse, so some will shut. Her

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/bd7953ca-483b-11ee-9359-63e432ab6148?shareToken=7fb60b74ec214783c4b41009149887c0

MrsDeaconClaybourne · 01/09/2023 21:17

KleineDracheKokosnuss · 01/09/2023 08:06

@Russooooo they’ve know there was an issue since the 1990s. They also knew there was a major issue in 2018 when part of a school in Kent collapsed. They did nothing useful.

Honestly the chaos in public services at a national level is beginning to break me. I’m right there with you.

I'm there too! Sad

SnowWhiteAndTheTwoKids · 01/09/2023 21:30

The DfE sent surveys to Headteachers asking us if we knew if we had any buildings made if crumbling concrete....we don't f*ckng know, we have degrees in Education, not building!

There must be hundreds of other schools out there who didn't/ couldn't reply.

EffortlessDesmond · 01/09/2023 21:36

Would you prefer to be paying for PFI financed schools as a taxpayer? Looking at the record of improved NHS PFI financed improvements, I am not convinced. A very very costly route to avoid paying now in favour of shunting the costs down a generation.

Dymaxion · 01/09/2023 21:39

Would you prefer to be paying for PFI financed schools as a taxpayer?

Was that the only alternative over the last 13 years ?

noblegiraffe · 01/09/2023 21:41

SnowWhiteAndTheTwoKids · 01/09/2023 21:30

The DfE sent surveys to Headteachers asking us if we knew if we had any buildings made if crumbling concrete....we don't f*ckng know, we have degrees in Education, not building!

There must be hundreds of other schools out there who didn't/ couldn't reply.

Yes, that's why the DfE are saying that the schools that are closing are confirmed to have RAAC, implying that other schools don't have RAAC, where the actual answer is that there are a whole bunch of schools that haven't been properly checked and could also collapse at any minute.

EffortlessDesmond · 01/09/2023 21:45

Not the govt who reduced spending on school buildings by 50% between 2010 and 2022?

You might have missed the event, but there was a global financial crisis in 2008 that altered the financial possibilities forever. The PFI programme that was supposed to deliver 20 major hospitals and 200 shiny new schools each year was destroyed. And ever since, we have been back to the ancient model... what can we afford to do? All teachers are idealists, I hope, but the system does not have a bottomless pocket.

jallopeno · 01/09/2023 21:47

noblegiraffe · 01/09/2023 21:41

Yes, that's why the DfE are saying that the schools that are closing are confirmed to have RAAC, implying that other schools don't have RAAC, where the actual answer is that there are a whole bunch of schools that haven't been properly checked and could also collapse at any minute.

Oh god. That's true isn't it- there's no way of knowing if a school is safe? Justif it definitely isn't?

noblegiraffe · 01/09/2023 21:47

You might have missed the event, but there was a global financial crisis in 2008 that altered the financial possibilities forever. The PFI programme that was supposed to deliver 20 major hospitals and 200 shiny new schools each year was destroyed.

No, it wasn't destroyed, it was cancelled. By Michael Gove.

And if you're going to try to pretend that it saved money, look at the situation we are in. Austerity was blatantly a false economy and blaming the financial crash for what has been the political decision to deliberately underfund the public sector for the last 13 years is desperate.

EffortlessDesmond · 01/09/2023 21:48

No, @Dymaxion . By 2010, it was bust.

jallopeno · 01/09/2023 21:48

They could have sorted it during lockdown

Dymaxion · 01/09/2023 21:51

@EffortlessDesmond if the coffers were so effected by the 2018 global financial crash, why did the last Conservative manifesto state that they would build 40 new hospitals ? Anyone keeping a tally on how many have actually been built ?

PumpkinSoup21 · 01/09/2023 21:54

EffortlessDesmond · 01/09/2023 21:45

Not the govt who reduced spending on school buildings by 50% between 2010 and 2022?

You might have missed the event, but there was a global financial crisis in 2008 that altered the financial possibilities forever. The PFI programme that was supposed to deliver 20 major hospitals and 200 shiny new schools each year was destroyed. And ever since, we have been back to the ancient model... what can we afford to do? All teachers are idealists, I hope, but the system does not have a bottomless pocket.

Yet there seems to be endless funds for Brexit nonsense and for mates who set up fake PPE firms.

Zoomdoom · 01/09/2023 21:54

No doubt the tories and their mates will be busy working out how they can make money out of this fiasco. Set up some company that reviews/repairs?

Dymaxion · 01/09/2023 21:55

You might have missed the event, but there was a global financial crisis in 2008

Also , if it was a global financial crisis, does that mean it wasn't entirely Gordon Browns fault Wink