The department will always put the safety and wellbeing of children and staff at the heart of its policy decisions. The government has taken more proactive action to identify and mitigate RAAC in education settings than the devolved administrations in the UK, or indeed, governments overseas.
The Local Authority run children’s homes sector in England is small with 13 secure children’s homes and 333 open children’s homes across all regions. Due to the nature of these buildings, which are typically constructed and used as residential home settings, RAAC is unlikely to be present. Of the 13 secure children’s homes in England, eight were constructed before 2000, with only one within the RAAC target era of 1950-1990. All eight of the secure children’s homes built before 2000 have been contacted by the department and have confirmed that RAAC is not present.
Although Local Authorities retain responsibility and a duty of care for open children’s homes and placements in private settings, the department has written to Local Authorities to check if RAAC is present in their buildings due to the age or type of construction. The department asked Local Authorities to contact it with details of any homes where RAAC may be present. As of 16 October, no Local Authorities or open children’s homes have contacted the department confirming that RAAC is present.
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