Gillian Keegan: how’s the ‘hot mic’ thing gone down with you?

[Crinklycut]

For my part, I don’t think it was very ministerial, and I do wonder how No. 10 all talk to each other these days (do they just swear all the time?) BUT she is a bit right, isn’t she?

The DfE have finally acted to make the public aware that their children are not safe in school. That’s more than anyone else in the Conservative party has done since they cancelled ‘Building Schools for the Future’ in 2010 and during their 13 years of government.

So how’s it gone down with you?

More likely someone was told "You will be criminally liable...."

Not sure why @Teateaandmoretea is said to be speaking shite. Where have you see the info?

Maybe a HT will confirm this or other

She was almost laughing when she claimed that she "would like to apologise" for her outburst.

The teachers I know are worried that there will be a huge shortage of teachers at all levels soon. Such is the stress of the job.

Tbh, I feel the conservatives are doing a good job of achieving their goal. It's a great pity their goal is to normalise a culture of paying for private healthcare and education by running public services down so much that nobody expects anything from them.

Who would want to be a HT?

It sounds like the status was part of it. Non-critical to critical is a big change

The risk of a school building collapsing and killing someone was critical for years. The risk of a school building was raised from critical to ‘critical - highly likely’ last December.

The risk assessment that changed over the summer was that a RAAC structure deemed not critical by an expert (not a headteacher) actually did collapse.

I’m not sure what the new risk assessment of a school building collapsing and killing someone is now in the light of that new info (that expert assessment of safety was wrong), critical - extremely likely for fuck’s sake do something about it?

So the delay wasn’t due to a change in status, it was already critical and highly likely. Not sure it’s a plus but ok

The delay in what, the DfE doing anything about it? The delay in the Treasury increasing funding for school repairs and rebuilds instead of cutting it?

The govt knew the school estate was in a dangerous condition and cut funding for it.

See how you can spin that to blame a headteacher.

Initially there were a fair few posts asking why it was being addressed at start of term not earlier, eg over summer holidays

That seemed an ok question

Document date is earlier though

To be honest, I know of private schools (not making press,hmmm) in the same pickle. With all their money and resources, they also have not acted til now. They also were told it wasn't urgent, their buildings were 'probably safe' or whatever weasel words have been used and they also had HTs being left assuming at some point , they'd need to get some builders in.They also had site agents, bursars and SLT wandering about with screwdrivers making calls and costing work in a non urgent fashion.

@EasternStandard and just remember this is just one issue with school buildings, many others are teetering due to lack of maintenance, age, crappy building standards, others contain vast amounts of asbestos, which is fine (possibly not as a number of teachers have died from asbestos related illness) until disturbed (see earlier point about buildings teetering). Many, many school estates are in a dire condition and there is no budget. Maintenance of buildings comes from the same budget that pays for teachers, utilities, educational resources. Staff costs take up about 75-80% of school budgets, doesn’t leave much to cover the rest.
Schools then get a small amount of additional funding for capital spend but not enough to shore up these buildings.

Then the very lucky few (not really lucky as their school buildings are the most dire and dangerous) get included in the school rebuilding programme, but even then no guarantee work is going to be carried out imminently, you are listed in priority of shitness.

Many, many parents do not realise how precarious the buildings are that their children are being taught in

😂 'quiet bat people'.

Does anyone know why so many of the urgent RAAC schools so far are in Essex?

Is it possible they had same building contractor so used the same materials?

Right now I’m not interested in the politics as it doesn’t help my child. Leave that till the kids are all in school and then present it ahead of the next election. Otherwise they are just being used as pawns, frankly.

I DO care about the politics @Teateaandmoretea because we have a government who have done nothing about a danger to our children because it wasn't politically necessary.

There was no political pressure so they left the axe over our children's heads

For five years.

Could be. And they could have all been built around the same time and become dangerous at about the same time. It just seems odd.

She gets paid about £150k a year doesn't she? Why does she expect anyone to be thanking her for the mess in education when she is being handsomely rewarded for it.

It would probably work better if I could remember what the hell else she actually had done as education Secretary.

If anyone is wondering why schools might not have returned the questionnaire, HTs get tons and tons of stuff to fill in and read/inplement from the DfE. It probably got filed with all the other non urgent stuff given the amount of time it would take to do properly.

They filled out their questionnaires properly? Or the LA had sent proper surveyors in? My guess is that eventually all areas will look like that.

I never said she was talking shitte, just that the DFe explanation is (imho) shitte, which kids, parents & schools are having to cope with.

Very strange that Keegan would take herself off on holiday given this change of advice....

There is also the issue that this stuff was used across the public sector, there aren't different grades, so if the advice has changed, then it equally applies to Hospitals, health centres, council buildings, leisure centres, courts and police stations..... anything with a flat roof really, built from the 60s onwards.

Its just that buildings falling down on a classroom is a lot more emotive than a Police station caving in...

Not strange at all. Remember Raab and the sea being closed while we fucked up evacuating Afghanistan.

Indeed, they simply don't care unless it involves themselves, proved by Keegan trying to keep this advice secret... how would she feel if a classroom full of kids involved in the meantime... probably not a lot tbh.

Labour are missing a trick by not saying they would fund the replacement of all school buildings and a full national survey of all

HOW BLOODY DARE SHE blame head teachers and schools for inaction when the tories have systematically underfunded all aspects of education over the last 13 years. When teachers and head teacher reach into their own pockets to buy resources they need for their own classrooms. When teachers are leaving the profession in droves?

Who gave her the prize for action and efficiency in her £150k salaried job? Words just fail me how totally shit this govt are.

The biggest problem with what Gillian Keegan said is that apparently she thinks "this" (gestures at chaos)

Is "doing a good job."

Yeah, absolutely par for the course with this shower.

Labour are missing a trick by not saying they would fund the replacement of all school buildings and a full national survey of all

They aren’t. A lot of people would think it was a waste of money that could be spent on them.

I wonder if Gillian is as nice to work with as Raab?