RAAC in schools:  Fife schools not at risk over crumbling concrete worry

The use of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) - a lightweight building material - in schools and colleges is at the centre of the growing controversy as the UK Government order their closure at the start of the new term, forcing pupils back to home study. The material was used between the 1950s and 1990s and is now said to be at risk of crumbling, leading to the potential collapse of buildings.

Fife Council said none of its schools were at risk as fast as it could determine, but NHS Fife said some of its older facilities may have potentially been built with RAAC.

Shirley-Anne Somerville MSP for Dunfermline, and Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice ,said Scottish 37 schools were affected.

She said: "This has been an issue that the government has been aware of for some time, and that's why action has been taken, and has been for some time. In July 2022 Scottish Government officials made contact with the Scottish heads of property services and directors of education in Scotland to share information on RAAC. I can completely appreciate why there is public concern on this, particularly given the way that announcements have been handled down in England.”

More than 30 schools across Scotland Scotland have been found to contain potentially dangerous concrete, leading to a scramble to find alternative temporary classrooms for pupils to use.