West Sussex County Council is considering killing two birds with one stone and removing asbestos from schools being inspected for Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC).
The news was shared by Andrew Edwards, assistant director for property & assets, during a scrutiny committee meeting on Wednesday (September 13).
The council will be carrying out inspections of 114 maintained schools across the county to confirm that RAAC – which is prone to crumbling – was not used during their construction.
As the inspections would involve exposing elements of the buildings, Mr Edwards said the council would also be looking into the potential removal of any asbestos.
He said:
“Asbestos is a material that, as long as it is in good condition, is fine when it stays in place.
“It’s when you try to start to move it you need to bring in specialist contractors to undertake the work, which inevitably increases the cost and leads to increases in time [taken].
“But we are pushing forward as quickly as we can with that.”
No mention was made about how much the inspections or any asbestos removal would cost the council.
Jacquie Russell, cabinet member for children & young people, learning & skills, said the council hoped to complete the inspections by the end of 2024, though Mr Edwards warned that this would depend largely on the availability of resources.
Describing the RAAC situation as ‘continually unravelling’, Mrs Russell said that things had not been helped by a lack of communication from the Department for Education
Regarding the inspections, she added:
“According to our records, we don’t believe we have any of the RAAC within our school buildings.
“As a belt and braces approach we are undertaking the extra surveys. But of course they are going to take time to complete.
“It’s not a case of just walking in a building and looking at a ceiling – you actually have to get down to the structure.”
The results of the inspections will be shared with the schools.
The council is only responsible for inspections in the schools which it manages – others, such as academies, do not fall within its remit.
So far, only Greenway Academy, in Horsham, has confirmed the presence of RAAC in its buildings.
Mr Edwards said:
“We’re working to a December 2024 deadline. However, I want to accelerate that as I do fully appreciate the worry that parents may have about their children occupying the school.
“But please be assured, if we felt there was any danger to health and safety in these schools we would have recommended closure.”
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