No Peterborough schools facing closure due to concrete crisis

No Peterborough schools are facing closure due to the concrete crisis, the council has revealed.

More than 100 schools in England were found to be at risk due to reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) - the dangerous material used to construct schools, colleges, and other buildings between the 1960s to 1990s, which only has a life expectancy of around three decades.

Many will now be unable to open at the start of term due to concerns about safety.

However, a Peterborough City Council spokesperson said no schools in the city were impacted.

The spokesperson said: “There are no Peterborough schools included in the list of sites which must close.

“We have been carrying out RAAC surveys over the last couple of months including our education sites, and these have produced no sites of concern to date.”

A total of 156 schools across the country have been notified about the dangers of the building material. Of the figure, just 52 settings have already been supported to put mitigations in place this year, including through additional funding for temporary accommodation, and all children are receiving face to face learning. This week, the Department of Education has contacted all 104 further settings where RAAC is currently confirmed to be present without mitigations in place, to ask them to vacate spaces or buildings that are known to contain RAAC.