Labour Councillor, Kamaljit Kaur Nagpal, agrees with Liberal Democrats Councillor, Jon Ball, on the Government's response to the RAAC (Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete) issue.

During tomorrow's (19 December) full council meeting, Ealing cllrs will ask each other questions on a range of topics. The questions and responses have already been published.

The Lib Dem cllr for Ealing Common asks the Labour cllr for Southall Broadway is she agrees "that the Government's response to the RAAC crisis has been woeful and that Rishi Sunak's decision in 2020 as chancellor to halve spending on school rebuilding was lamentable?"

Cllr Nagpal strongly disagrees with the Prime Minister's decision to cut spending on school rebuilding, considering it a regrettable and serious matter.

She said: "The Prime Minister's decision to slash spending on school rebuilding is regrettable. This is a matter of utmost importance, and it is vital that we address it with the seriousness it deserves – something that the education secretary (Gillian Keegan) was clearly unable to bring herself to do.

"It is outrageous that government has consistently cut funding for school buildings, and then has the gall to turn around and blame schools and local authorities for this latest scandal.

"It is a crisis stemming from the stroke of a pen in a Whitehall department 10 years ago, and now children all over the country are sat under ceilings that are held up with wooden props.

"What sort of a message does this send children and young people about how they are valued in society? About how seriously they should take their educations? And this was preventable.

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"It is political choices that have brought us here, political choices made by not only Rishi Sunak as Chancellor but which also have to be owned by the Lib Dems as it was the coalition government which reviewed the Labour government's 'Building Schools for the Future' programme."

The Ellen Wilkinson School for Girls in Ealing was affected by RAAC this year (credit: Google maps).

The education secretary told MPs at the Commons Education Select Committee on Wednesday 6 December that there was no definitive end date for the RAAC crisis schools are facing across the country but it would be a "new year present"

Back in September Ellen Wilkinson School for Girls in Acton was affected by RAAC and had to close part of its school.

According to the Department for Education (DfE, more than 200 schools in the UK have been impacted by RAAC.

RAAC is type of lightweight concrete used in construction in many buildings between the 1950s and 1990s.

It is highly aerated with different material properties to conventional concrete and mainly found in roofs, occasionally in floors and walls.

To read the full agenda reports pack for the council meeting tomorrow (19 December), click here.

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