Bolton: Five schools could be hit by RAAC concrete crisis

This comes amid news that hundreds of schools all over the country many contain RAAC, a form of concrete that has the potential to collapse.

Bolton Council cabinet member for children’s services Cllr Martin Donaghy says he has been monitoring the situation.

He said: “No council run schools that we know of have been affected, the affected schools are all diocesan or run by academy trusts.

“There are no council run schools closing at this moment in time, because if for example a staff area was affected then they could try to relocate them.

“But if it was an area where children were being taught then we would have to look at that.”

St Bernard's RC School in Ladybridge has already written parents (Image: Google Maps)

He added: “This is a matter for the schools concerned but obviously the council has a safeguarding role to play in ensuring that children are taught in a safe environment.”

Bolton Council has already identified one of the schools and carried out safety work after receiving guidance from the Department for Education several years ago.

Officials will be assessing a further four schools over the coming days and say they hope to be updated soon.

Last week, Canon Slade School announced that areas would be closed off because of RAAC but that the school itself is still set to open for the start of term.

Over the last weekend St Bernard's RC School in Ladybridge announced it would have to delay the start of term until Thursday, September 7, or failing that Monday, September 11.

St William of York in Great Lever has also been asked to take action (Image: Google Maps)

St William of York RC Primary School in Great Lever was also identified as one of the schools asked to take action.

The two other borough schools affected have not yet been named. 

RAAC is a cheaper alternative to normal concrete that was often used in buildings from the 1950s to the 1990s.

But with a lifespan of around 30 years, it is considered less durable and came to the attention of national authorities after the roof collapsed at a primary school in Gravesend, Kent in 2018.

Bolton Council leader Cllr Nick Peel said this raised serious questions about why the government did not appear to have acted until now.

He said: “The Department for Education have known about this issue for a number of years.”

He added: “They’ve sat on this issue and now there’s suddenly a flurry of national attention.

“Previous education ministers have questions to answer about why they sat on this for so long.”

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But the government has said that it is acting on new evidence all over the country.

Education Secretary Gillian Keegan MP said: “Nothing is more important than making sure children and staff are safe in schools and colleges, which is why we are acting on new evidence about RAAC now, ahead of the start of term.

“We must take a cautious approach because that is the right thing to do for both pupils and staff.

“The plan we have set out will minimise the impact on pupil learning and provide schools with the right funding and support they need to put mitigations in place to deal with RAAC.”