Ministers back away from threat to 'name and shame' schools over RAAC forms

The Department for Education (DfE) faced a backlash after warning headteachers that those who do not respond to a survey RAAC by today could be “named and shamed”. "

The government's handling of the crisis has been described as "chaotic" (

Image: William Lailey SWNS)

Ministers backtracked after threatening to “name and shame” schools that failed to respond to inquiries into potentially dangerous concrete.

School principals had been warned that the Department for Education could publish a list of those who had not responded by Friday, sparking a huge backlash. It comes as ministers desperately try to tackle the Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) crisis, which has seen more than 100 schools forced to close or partially close.

An email was sent on Monday evening by Education Minister Baroness Barran to schools that had not responded to the survey - a percentage estimated at around 5%. He warned that the DfE would "probably...be required to release information on which schools have the Raac, which schools do not, and which schools where there is still uncertainty".

But on Friday the DfE said it would not publish a list of schools which failed to respond to the survey. The ministry initially suggested it would release the percentage of schools that had not responded, but later said it would not even make that information public.

Whitehall had been accused of trying to 'name and shame' schools - with many claiming to have returned the necessary forms months ago. Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), said: "We understand that Education Minister Baroness Barran has now given assurances that 'lead bodies' will only be not publicly named in connection with supposedly unreturned investigations.

“This assurance was given after it emerged that many of them had indeed returned these surveys several months ago – and in some cases repeatedly – ​​but Ministry of Education records are inaccurate. However, we have not had this assurance. "Assurance that was directly given to us and we remain concerned. The government's handling of the RAAC crisis has been completely chaotic. "

A DfE spokesperson said: "We are extremely grateful to school and college leaders for working with us to minimize disruption to children's education. We continue to urge all bodies responsible for completing the Raac questionnaire because we rely on this information to enable us to act quickly.

“It is vitally important that we receive this information as quickly as possible and the ministry will support any responsible agencies that need further assistance to complete it.”

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