Anglesey RAAC: No date for Caergybi school reopening

It is "impossible" to estimate when a school closed due to concrete issues could reopen, the council leader says.

Ysgol David Hughes and Ysgol Uwchradd Caergybi, both on Anglesey, were shut after reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) was identified.

Uwchradd Caergybi will remain closed while David Hughes will re-open to Year 7, 11 and 12 pupils on Thursday.

Llinos Medi, leader of Anglesey council, said engineers are continuing to work at both school sites.

Concrete: How safe are schools in Wales?

"It's impossible to give you an absolute timeframe because at the moment we don't know what the outcome will be," she told Radio Wales Breakfast.

"We hope [pupils can return to Ysgol Uwchradd Caergybi by next week] but its unfair for us to make that promise and be unable to deliver on it."

She said David Hughes is partially opening due to the school only using the building unaffected by RAAC, while Uwchradd Caergybi is looking at "other models for education" while surveys continue.

Fears over the concrete has led to more than 100 educational buildings being told to close last week in England - a list was published on Wednesday.

The Health and Safety Executive has said that RAAC is now beyond its lifespan and may "collapse with little or no notice".

While two schools on Angelsey have been identified with the material, work is ongoing to see if there are more in Wales.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, under fire from Sir Keir Starmer, criticised the Welsh government for its handling of the problem in the House of Commons.

"Whilst the Department for Education started this process 18 months ago, in spring of last year, as far as I can tell in Labour-run Wales they still don't know which schools are affected," he said.

A Welsh government spokesman declined to comment. Education Minister Jeremy Miles has previously criticised UK ministers for providing written evidence of increased safety risks only last Sunday.

A spokesman has also said that "details of any instance or awareness of RAAC is requested as part of the annual education data collection exercise and, since March this year, we have been working closely with local authorities".

New information has also come to light suggesting that a survey, commissioned in May, which last week the Welsh government said would uncover instances of RAAC was originally commissioned for a different purpose.

But Newyddion S4C has since learned that the Welsh government's statement had referred to a study commissioned to assess the decarbonisation of school sites. The 12-month project was due to begin in October this year.

The government had said it commissioned "a condition survey of all state funded schools and colleges which will identify any structures suspected of containing RAAC... earlier this year".

A separate Welsh government exercise - expected to take two weeks - to contact the country's 22 local authorities began after the announcement in England of closures last Thursday.

Plaid Cymru's Heledd Fychan called for "transparency" from the Welsh government. She said the issue "is too important to play politics with".

Laura Doel, national secretary of school leaders' union NAHT Cymru, said schools were still "in the dark" over RAAC.

"The UK government position has changed as schools were due to reopen and they need to provide full information immediately so that we are equipped to deal with any issues here in Wales," she said.

"A review of school buildings is being undertaken by the 22 local authorities (in Wales), and so far there have only been two schools identified with this concrete.

"The Welsh government has pledged its support to schools and local authorities and schools are complying with the review to offer reassurance to parents as quickly as possible."

South Wales Fire and Rescue had said it has been unable to rule out the use RAAC at four of its sites.

It said it surveyed all of its sites in early 2023 and the was able to rule out the presence of RAAC at all but these four sites, which will now be subject to further testing.