Labour accused the Prime Minister of “putting children’s lives at risk” after a former Permanent Secretary at the Department for Education placed responsibility for drastic cuts to the school rebuilding programme on the Prime Minister.
Commenting on the Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete crisis engulfing schools, Jonathan Slater, told the Today programme that during the 2021 Spending Review, the then Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, halved the number of schools that could be rebuilt, despite a recommendation from the Department for Education to double the number from 100 to 200.
Analysis from the Labour party has now revealed the full extent of school building cuts made by Rishi Sunak as Chancellor of the Exchequer, with government spending on its flagship schools rebuilding programmes has seen a cumulative cut of £869 million.
Labour’s analysis revealed that spending on school rebuilding in 2019-20 was £765 million, but after Sunak became Chancellor this dropped to £560 million in 2020-21 and as little as £416 million in 2021-22, a fall of 41% overall.
The cuts came despite warnings from the Department for Education that the cost of returning schools to satisfactory conditions would double between 2015-16 and 2020-21.
Labour’s analysis comes as the number of schools likely to have to close because of dangerous RAAC is set to grow, with over 150 affected so far.
Portsmouth South MP and Shadow Schools Minister, Stephen Morgan, said:
“This absolutely damning statement from the former top civil servant in the Department for Education shows just how little this government thinks of children in Portsmouth and across the nation.
“Despite the warnings from Labour and his own civil servants, Rishi Sunak still decided to cut spending for school buildings and endanger the lives of children.
“The consequences of the Prime Minister’s decisions are now becoming evident with crumbling school buildings across the country putting children’s lives at risk.”
Bridget Phillipson MP, Labour’s Shadow Education Secretary, said:
“The defining image of thirteen years of the Conservative-run education system will be children sat under steel girders to stop the roof falling in.
“Rishi Sunak bears huge culpability for his role in this debacle: he doubled down on Michael Gove’s decision to axe Labour’s schools rebuilding programme and now the chickens have come home to roost – with yet more disruption to children’s education.
“Labour warned time and again about the risks posed by the crumbling schools estate under the Conservatives but were met with complacency, obstinacy and inaction.
“Ministers need to come clean about the number of schools affected, what they knew, and when they knew, about the risks posed by RAAC so that parents can be reassured their children are safe at school.”
