Catch-up: Watch the September 2023 episode of Anglia Late Edition

Watch the latest Anglia Late Edition - the regional politics programme covering issues affecting the East of England presented by Political Correspondent Emma Hutchinson

This programme was transmitted in the ITV Anglia region on Thursday 7 September 2023

With the next Government under fire for its handling of the concrete crisis, we look at whether accusations of a 'sticking plaster approach' to public spending are fair.

The opposition and teaching unions are of no doubt.

Geoff Barton of the the Association of School and College Leaders said:

"We get into the inevitable blame game, we do know that what Labour did at the end of their time before 2010 was to have a plan to rebuild every secondary school in the country.

Some schools and colleges are thought to have been built with a lightweight concrete called RAAC Credit: LGA

"There are problems with that plan, it was very expensive but it does mean that by 2020 you would’ve had all new schools.

"The first thing the current Government did was to cut  that and I don’t think what they put in place has been adequate frankly and I think this is chickens coming home to roost."

What is Raac? The weak concrete that's causing schools to crumble

The Government have robustly defended accusations they've not acted swiftly enough.

Schools Minister Nick Gibb said: "We've been giving schools advice about Raac since 2018. They know how to identify Raac and they have very clear advice about how to manage Raac safely.

"We're going one step further and saying where we have identified Raac, we want to take out of use just for a precautionary measure Raac that is considered in good condition as well as RAAC that's considered to be in poor condition to make sure children are safe."

All this has led to claims that short-term political gain is coming at the expense of the kind of long-term planning needed for things like the NHS, energy and climate.

Is political short-termism holding us back?

We hear from those calling for greater collaboration between all parties.

Nadine Dorries has resigned from the Commons more than two months after pledging to go ‘with immediate effect’ Credit: Kirsty O’Connor/PA

And with Nadine Dorries formally deciding to call time on her tenure as an MP, we look at whether the 78 day saga has undermined or faith in politics.

This month's guests are Sir Bernard Jenkin, the Conservative MP for Harwich and North Essex; Lucy Rigby, Labour's prospective parliamentary candidate for Northampton North and; and Daisy Cooper, the Lib Dem MP for St Albans.

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