To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many officials within her Department are working on the management of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete across schools and colleges.
Answered on
27 November 2023
The department will allocate whatever resources are necessary to support schools and colleges to manage and remove RAAC from their buildings. Every school and college with confirmed RAAC is assigned dedicated support from the department’s team of 80 caseworkers who work with them to assess what support is needed and implement mitigations plans that are right for them. Schools and colleges with confirmed RAAC are also being supported by the department’s ten Regional Directors and their teams across the country.
Project delivery teams are on site to support schools and colleges to minimise the disruption to children and young people’s learning. A bespoke plan is put in place to ensure that each school and college receives the support that suits their circumstances. Project delivery, property, and technical experts are on hand to support schools to put face to face education measures in place.
Members of staff across the department work on RAAC across a range of policy and delivery areas as required. In addition to 80 dedicated caseworkers and a central co-ordinating team, RAAC work is embedded and prioritised across teams and functions as necessary. It is therefore not possible to give an accurate figure specifically for numbers of staff working on RAAC.