Welsh Government to survey schools for unsafe concrete after hundreds told to shut in England

School and college buildings in Wales will be surveyed for a lightweight type of concrete that poses a risk of collapse after more than 100 schools in England were told to close or put measures in place before they could open for the new school term.

Thousands of pupils in England now face a disrupted start to the academic year following the announcement from the UK Government.

The Welsh Government confirmed that so far there have been "no reported cases" of the concrete in education buildings across the country.

However, it said it has commissioned a survey of "all state funded schools and colleges which will identify any structures suspected" of containing Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete".

The concrete is a lightweight building material used from the 1950s up to the mid-1990s, that was predominantly used in roofs, but now assessed to be at risk of collapse.

Posting on X, formerly Twitter, the opposition in Wales were critical of the Welsh Government.

Laura Ann Jones MS, the Welsh Conservatives Shadow Minister for Education, said: “Labour Education Minister needs to urgently review the situation in Wales, follow the lead of the UK Conservatives Govt and identify at-risk school buildings."

The Department for Education (DfE) in England said a minority of the state facilities may have to move completely and some children may be forced back into pandemic-style remote learning.

But the UK Government has refused to publicly reveal the 104 education facilities which have been told to shut buildings, and critics warned the problems with reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) could be far wider.

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