Something which has been known about since the mid-1990s, that reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) "has shown to have limited structural rebar integrity in 40 to 50 year-old RAAC roof panels" has suddenly dawned on politicians. In other words, roofs of hundreds of schools and hospitals constructed in the UK from the 1950s on are liable to collapse as the reinforcing fails. The man left standing as the music stops is Nick Gibbs, junior minister at the Department for Education. The Minister, Gillian Keegan, will return to answer to parliament next week, but blame should be apportioned to their predecessors and Treasury ministers over the last three decades for not taking action which would have avoided the current emergency.
And, as far as I am aware, the Health Department has not responded publicly to the crisis in England's hospitals.
RAAC has been found in Withybush hospital in Pembrokeshire, but the Welsh government has stated that no schools or colleges in Wales have reported any trouble with the material.
[updated 2023-09-02]
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