UK ministers criticised for not sharing vital Raac details with devolved nations

The UK government has been criticised for not sharing crucial information over the crumbling concrete scare with the devolved nations.

Jeremy Miles, the Welsh education minister, said it was “hugely regrettable” that despite repeated requests, the UK government sent details of its concerns around Raac (reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete) only on Sunday night – the eve of the new school term.

It prompted two schools on the island of Anglesey (Ynys Môn) in north Wales to close within hours for safety checks and Miles said it was possible that others might follow.

Miles added: “It is hugely regrettable that the evidence that has apparently been developed over the summer has been withheld until the night before the first day of term.

“It is also incomplete, leaving us without the full rationale for the DfE’s [Department for Education] sudden policy change towards the management of Raac in schools.”

Miles, a Labour minister, said the information was sent at 6.57pm on Sunday. “It was information they had had for a long time – at least a number of weeks – and which they did not disclose to the devolved governments.

“We met with them during the summer and the existence of the new information wasn’t shared with us, let alone the information itself. We had a verbal briefing with them on Friday and have been chasing them for documentation.

“That was provided [on Sunday night], but it’s very incomplete. It doesn’t include the technical assessments and expert advice you assume would have been undertaken. I very much hope we will have access to that.”

Asked why he thought the UK government had not shared the information more quickly, Miles said: “I don’t know. It’s important in situations like this that we put the politics to one side and work collaboratively and share the information we have. That would be the mature way of proceeding.”

All 22 local authorities in Wales are assessing Raac in educational buildings, but Miles said: “Local authorities have been doing review work for some time on Raac and many are telling us they are confident they don’t have Raac in their schools.

“It’s possible there will be more,” he added. The minister said most schools either pre- or postdated the period when Raac was used.

Two schools on Anglesey have been identified as having Raac, Ysgol David Hughes and Ysgol Uwchradd Caergybi.

Council officials and technical advisers met at 8am on Monday to discuss the information sent to the Welsh government on Sunday evening and decided to shut the schools to pupils, who were due in on Tuesday.

The Welsh Conservative leader, Andrew RT Davies, said: “Labour ministers in the Senedd can’t pass the buck. They’re in charge of schools in Wales, so building safety is their responsibility.”

In Scotland, ministers have been urged to produce a detailed plan to repair or replace Raac in scores of schools, university buildings and hospitals after the Liberal Democrats revealed that it was present at dozens of university sites.

St Andrews University has closed students’ association venues for remedial work on a roof made with Raac. In West Lothian and Edinburgh, secondary and primary school pupils have been decanted to portable classrooms after Raac was found.

Alex Cole-Hamilton, the Scottish Liberal Democrat leader, said the remedial work needed would cost hundreds of millions of pounds, but said Scottish ministers appeared to have little idea of the scale of the problem.

“Across Scotland we are finding more and more examples of this potentially dangerous concrete in use,” he said. “It is time for the Scottish government to come up with a proper plan of action for resolving this issue for good.”

Scottish ministers have confirmed that Raac has been found in 35 schools.

The education department in Northern Ireland has commissioned structural surveys to ascertain the scope and scale of Raac’s presence in schools.