Multiple Liverpool schools being assessed for crumbling RAAC concrete - locations revealed

Multiple schools in Liverpool are currently being assessed for potentially crumbling concrete.

A response to a Freedom of Information request to Liverpool Council has confirmed the locations under inspection by the Department for Education (DfE) to establish any presence of autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) in their structures. Jonathan Jones, the city’s director of education, told a committee earlier this month how a number of schools in Liverpool were being looked at by DfE amid the ongoing national crisis.

It can now be reported that two special educational needs (SEND) schools and a maintained primary school have been visited by officials.

Confirmed inspections

The Freedom of Information request confirmed Abbot’s Lea in Woolton, Clifford Holroyde in Knotty Ash and Gilmour Primary in Garston had been visited during the latest round of investigations. A site run by an unnamed multi-academy trust (MAT) had also had to close off an area to the public owing to concerns over its building work.

Abbot’s Lea provides education for more than 300 students aged three to 19 living with autism while Clifford Holroyde is a specialist SEND facility for boys aged 11 to 16. It is expected all three sites will have inspections completed by the end of the week.

Further information requests revealed 17 education centres across the city were analysed in 2022.

Structural surveys were carried out by Kier Workplace Services last April at Abercromby Nursery School, Everton Early Childhood Centre, Broadgreen Primary, Fazakerley Primary, Knotty Ash Primary, Monksdown Primary, Norman Pannell, Rice Lane Primary, St Michaels Hamlet Primary, Sudley Juniors, Sudley Infants, Woolton Primary, The Beacon, St Cleopas, St Margaret’s CE Primary, Princes School and Sandfield Park.

RAAC was not identified in any of the 17 sites, but further investigations were carried out at Sudley Juniors, Sandfield Park, Woolton Primary and Monksdown after initial probes took place. After it emerged earlier this month around 100 schools across the UK would be ordered to close their doors on the eve of the new school term after concerns arose regarding the concrete, the DfE confirmed a further 27 schools had been identified nationally.

This did not include sites within Liverpool or the wider city region.

Liverpool Council is responsible for 61 of the city’s 172 educational settings, with archdiocese and MATs in charge of faith and independent schools. Mr Jones said should any remedial works be required at the sites in Liverpool, costs would be covered by the government. Any contingencies would then fall under the city council’s jurisdiction.

The LDRS contacted Abbot’s Lea, Clifford Holroyde and Gilmour Primary for comment.

About RAAC

RAAC was used in schools, colleges and other building construction from the 1950s until the mid-1990s. However, it was later realised that the material is less durable than a conventional reinforced concrete, with a lifespan of about 30 years.

According to the government website, safety concerns over RAAC were first identified in 1994 and the situation has been monitored since 2018.

In 2022, the Department for Education sent a questionnaire to all relevant bodies asking for information on the use of RAAC across local schools. A series of recent cases mean the department has now changed its assessment of the risk posed by RAAC, which is why it has requested requested some schools close buildings.