The LGA has reiterated its long-standing call for a national lead body to raise awareness of the use of a collapse-prone concrete in schools and other public buildings.
Thousands of pupils in England and Wales had a disrupted start to the new term this month after the Department for Education changed its risk assessment for reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) in August.
It announced that school buildings made from RAAC should close immediately until safety work was undertaken, following concerns that the lightweight concrete could fail without warning.
The limited durability of RAAC – used widely from the mid-1950s to the mid-1980s – has long been recognised, and the LGA has been warning of the risk in schools since 2018.
Cllr Shaun Davies, LGA Chair, said: “The LGA has been calling since 2020 for a lead body at a national level to raise awareness of the use of RAAC, provide access to technical expertise in identifying it, and conduct research so there is a better understanding of how best to manage it.
“The LGA will continue to engage with the ongoing work by the Office of Government Property to widen out the identification and remediation of RAAC.
“The Government needs to ensure councils have the necessary funding and access to the right technical expertise as they now look to identify any buildings they are responsible for which may contain RAAC, and put in place plans to remediate them.”
Further information about RAAC is available on the LGA’s website at www.local.gov.uk/raac
