Children in school
A Barnet Council statement on the survey of Barnet’s schools for reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC):
Yesterday (5 September), we completed our survey of the 51 schools for which the council is responsible. We can confirm that our engineering survey teams have not found any of our schools to be affected by RAAC-related issues.
In line with the request for the Department for Education (DfE) for information on these 51 schools, we conducted a preliminary assessment that found that the majority were constructed after builders ceased to use RAAC in construction. Engineering surveyors recently inspected 17 schools, where we needed further reassurance, and confirmed that RAAC is not present in 12 of them. Clear access to areas that could potentially contain RAAC was not possible in five schools, so follow-up surveys have been instructed for those schools, to confirm whether RAAC is present.
In addition, we have been liaising with the other Responsible Bodies (Dioceses and Trusts) to ensure all schools in Barnet are safe. The council remains ready to offer advice and guidance to all schools in the borough, should that be necessary.
We have also been made aware that one academy school, which had a survey conducted directly by DfE, has RAAC in one of its buildings. This area has been made safe.
The council has worked quickly to minimise the disruption for this week’s return to school, with only one school needing to hold online lessons, to enable its inspection and ensure their children are safe, prior to the results of the survey. This survey found no evidence of RAAC so the school has now returned to normal.
The safety of our pupils, students and school staff is our top priority. Barnet Council is committed to cooperating fully with the government's inquiry and taking all necessary actions to maintain the highest safety standards in our educational establishments.