Rishi Sunak cut school renovation costs while working at the Treasury. Photo: Simon Walker/No. 10 Downing Street
Rishi Sunak rejected calls to increase spending on school renovations, minister acknowledged.
Nick Gibb, Minister for Schools, said Department of Education (DfE) was applying to fund the rebuilding of 200 schools a year, but the first Chancellor only approved funding to pay $50 a year, preferring to focus on other Whitehall priorities.
This is because the department has acknowledged that only four schools have been rehabilitated under the program at the center of the row so far, and found that at least 11 schools whose rebuilding was canceled by Michael Gove when he entered government in 2010, were forced to close because of crumbling concrete.
Mr Gibb insisted that the government's response to the RAAC crisis, which saw more than 100 schools partially or completely closed, was «leading in the world.»
< p>On Monday, Jonathan Slater, the former permanent secretary of the DfE, accused Sunak of refusing to fully fund a program to rebuild England's crumbling schools when he was chancellor.
The former civil servant said that before 400 schools a year had to be replaced, but this funding was released by 100 after Mr. Sunak made the decision to «halve the size of the program». The prime minister told reporters that the attacks on his reputation were «totally and completely wrong.»
How the concrete of classrooms could be in danger of collapsing
On Tuesday, Mr. Gibb said he would not accept the 400 figure, but acknowledged that the DfE requested funding to overhaul 200 schools a year in 2021 only for Mr. Sunak to agree to funding just that amount. 50 a year.
“We applied for 200, but Rishi agreed to continue the recovery program with 50 a year, which is in line with what we have been doing since we took over,” he said. “We have applied for 200, but of course the Treasury will then have to compare that with all the other priorities from all over Whitehall, from health, defense and so on.”
The School Recovery Program has completed four sites so far, The DfE reported, but officials expect the pace to pick up by the end of the decade.
The spokesperson said: «We have committed to rebuilding 500 schools through the school rebuilding program.» school recovery program for the period 2020-2030 and are on track to meet this commitment.”
Mr. Gibb defended Gillian Keegan after she apologized for accidentally venting her frustration on camera that no one acknowledged what a «damn good job» she was doing.
He told the program BBC Radio 4's «Today»: «She was trying to convey to us the vast amount of work that DfE has done. We are the world leader in determining where the RAAC is located in our school district.
“We are talking about a small number of schools out of 22,500 schools, but we have been conducting surveys since last March, so we know where Raack, and send surveyors to identify the RAAC.”
Labor Party leader Sir Keir Starmer said it was “unforgivable” that children missed the start of term due to a crumbling concrete crisis. .
Opening the meeting of his renewed shadow cabinet, Sir Keir said: “Children are not going to school today because of the actions that the government has not taken regarding schools. It's unforgivable. Honestly, it's a metaphor for their band-aid policy — never fix the basics, always put on a band-aid.»
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