‘No immediate risk to safety’ from crumbling concrete, says senior SNP minister

Neil Gray made the comments amid school closures in England

There is "no immediate risk to safety" from potentially dangerous concrete in Scotland, a senior SNP minister has insisted.

Neil Gray made the comments after more than 100 schools in England were told to shut areas affected by reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (Raac).

Mr Gray said safety checks are ongoing and admitted some buildings may require to be repaired or replaced entirely. However, speaking to BBC Scotland’s Sunday Show, he said: “There is no immediate risk to safety.”

Neil Gray

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said the UK Government will “spend what it takes” to fix the problem in schools.

He acknowledged the disruption caused by the Department for Education’s announcement that buildings should close days before the new term “adds to the stress” for families but insisted ministers had “acted immediately” in response to new safety concerns.

Mr Hunt told Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg that the Government received new advice in “the summer months” which suggested buildings previously considered safe might not be. “The Education Secretary acted immediately on that,” he said. “We acted fast when the problem first arose.”

Asked whether the Government would commit to covering whatever costs are required to remove all Raac from schools across the country, he said: “We will spend what it takes to make sure children can go to school safely, yes.”

Mr Gray, Scotland’s Cabinet Secretary for Wellbeing Economy, Fair Work and Energy, said the Scottish Government is working with councils, health boards and Police Scotland to investigate buildings with Raac.

Asked what stage these inspections are at, he said: “Those investigations are ongoing. We’re working with our local authority partners, who obviously have to take a lead on this, to make sure that those inspections can take place as quickly as possible, if they haven’t done already.”

Asked if the UK Government is overreacting, he said: “Obviously, the UK Government have got to make their own assessment. We have taken ours based on the work that we’re doing with our local authority partners, our NHS stakeholders.

"But my obvious issue here is about making sure [of] the ongoing safety of the buildings, the ongoing safety of the people using them, and there is no immediate risk to people using those buildings. And any mitigations that are required to be done will be done by our local authority partners, NHS boards, etc.”

Mr Gray added: "There is no reason to believe that the safety concern has changed in the previous weeks. Obviously, there are checks ongoing, including intrusive checks, because some of this material is going to be deep into the structure of buildings. Some of that takes time to be able to carry out.

"There have also been, as has been documented, desk-based assessments of knowing where Raac is and taking a risk-based approach on understanding where the integrity of that particular structure could be compromised. And as I say, at the moment, there is no immediate risk to people using these buildings.”

Asked whether the Scottish Government is telling housing associations to check their stock, he said: “We’re working with all organisations where there is the potential for Raac to be present, to ensure that they are taking the necessary action, to ensure that they understand what is within the buildings, but also to take a risk-based assessment.”

He said there “could potentially be additional works required either to make the buildings safe or for replacements, but some of that will already be taking place thanks to the investment that we’ve already made in the school estate, for instance”.