Hundreds more school sites facing problems just as pupils return for term

RISHI SUNAK today came under pressure to explain why as chancellor he cut money for rebuilding schools despite warnings that children's lives could be at risk.

- Jitendra Joshi

As the uproar grew about crumbling concrete at the start of the academic year, Education Secretary Gillian Keegan admitted that "hundreds more" sites may face problems as officials surveyed the extent of the crisis.

She said a full list would be published "this week" of 156 schools already identified - including 104 needing critical repairs as containing RAAC (reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete) once parents had been informed of planned remedial work.

The Prime Minister said it was "completely and utterly wrong" to suggest that he was to blame for failing to fully fund a programme to rebuild England's schools when he was chancellor.

Ms Keegan was also under pressure after it was reported that her department was spending £34 million on revamping its offices amid the scandal.

The work involves stripping out the Nineties' interior over four floors of the Department for Education's Westminster HQ.

"I wasn't part of that decision, to be honest," she told Sky News, although the report said she had signed off on a predecessor's contract for the works in April. "I know that when I was last in the department, I was on a different floor and I know they are refurbishing some of them," she added, promising to check the costs of such a makeover.