Tories must publish building risk register as RAAC crisis could be 'tip of the iceberg'

Unions have warned that hospitals, libraries, community centers and other public buildings could also be threatened by collapse-prone RAAC concrete which hits schools in England

Schools have been thrown into chaos by the RAAC concrete crisis (

Image: William Lailey SWNS)

Ministers have been urged to publish a national risk register for all public buildings, amid warnings that the questionable concrete crisis in schools could be the "tip of the iceberg".

Unions have warned that hospitals, libraries, community centers and other public buildings could also be threatened by collapse-prone RAAC concrete. TUC general secretary Paul Nowak said: “The RAAC crisis in our schools is just the tip of the iceberg. Across our public realm – including our hospitals, libraries, community centers and courts – we have buildings at risk from RAAC, asbestos and other serious structural problems."

He added: "People deserve to know that the buildings they work in and use are safe. Where the government is unsure about the safety of buildings, it must take immediate action to risk assessments and make this information public. We must end the culture of secrecy that has prevented good decisions and put lives at risk." Mr Nowak urged the government to engage in a major repair program to rid public buildings of RAAC, asbestos and other structural hazards.

Thousands of children have seen the start of the school year disrupted after the government ordered more than 100 schools to close or partially close at the last minute for safety reasons. Some 147 schools in England contain RAACs, according to the Department for Education. Of these, 19 schools were forced to delay the start of the school year, leaving 9,731 students in the lurch.

Approximately 2,960 students in four schools are forced to do remote learning, while 22,339 students across 20 schools benefit from a mix of in-person and remote learning. Hospitals and courts are also facing new controls following the school crisis.

It comes as six major unions have written to Gillian Keegan demanding answers about many schools suspected of having RAAC but which have not yet been investigated or investigated . Tensions are high after the Education Secretary told schools to "step aside" and fill out questionnaires - in what principals described as an attempt to go behind the scenes.

In a letter to Ms Keegan, the unions demanded to know the deadline for ridding all schools of dangerous concrete. They warned that the level of information provided so far by the DfE may not “reflect the full extent of the problem”.

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