There are no changes to plans at the Royal Oldham Hospital after more than 100 schools have been told to close classrooms and buildings that contain reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete, or RAAC.
The hospital’s roof is one of dozens across the country to use the material, which has been likened to a ‘chocolate aero bar’.
A “minority” of the 104 state schools will need to “either fully or partially relocate” to alternative accommodation while safety measures are installed due to risks posed by the material, the Department for Education (DfE) said, and some children may be forced back into pandemic-style remote learning.
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‘Changed approach’
According to a DfE email sent to schools and seen by The Oldham Times, the DfE has been monitoring the situation ‘closely’ since 2018.
However, it says its approach to the situation has changed as “recent cases have reduced confidence that parts of settings that are known to contain RAAC should remain open without mitigations in place”.
Schools that do not know if their buildings contain the material will need to bring in surveyors to assess, with funding to remove ‘immediate risk’ and provide temporary buildings provided by the DfE.
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However, long-term removal will be funded by capital funding provided each year, and through a rebuilding programme.
The list of schools affected has not been publicised by the government, which changed its guidance on the material just days before schools return from the summer holidays.
Plans for Royal Oldham unchanged
According to the Northern Care Alliance, plans for the main building of the Royal Oldham Hospital and the Turnberg Building at Salford Royal, both of which have roofs that contain the material, remain unchanged.
This is despite a change in opinion of the Department for Education in regard to schools.
The Northern Care Alliance did not provide an updated statement.
In August last year, the NHS trust’s deputy director of estates, facilities and capital development said planks in both buildings had been inspected and were structurally assessed as being in a good condition, with the NHS committing to fully remove the planks by 2035.
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “The NHS has a mitigation plan in place for hospital buildings with confirmed RAAC, backed with significant additional funding of £698 million from 2021 to 2025, for trusts to put in place necessary remediation and failsafe measures.
“We remain committed to eradicating RAAC from the NHS estate entirely by 2035.
“Additionally, we have announced that the seven most affected NHS hospitals will be replaced by 2030 through our New Hospital Programme.
“The technical advice received from the NHS is that the current approach to monitoring and mitigation remains appropriate.”
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