a political mess without obvious end and it poses questions for ministers about theirjudgment and decisions and choices and attitudes to risk. now and in the past. also on tonight's programme... northern ireland's chief constable resigns after a string of recent controversies. the white house says kim john unis planning to make a rare trip outside north korea to hold talks in russia with president putin. and central spain like you have seen it on newsnight at 10:30, the prime minister denies he's to blame for failing to root out raac from schools. how damaging is the row over crumbling concrete for school kids returning this week and for rishi sunak? good evening.

it's been a testing first day back after the summer recess for the government, now mired in the controversy over crumbling concrete. ministers say a list will be published this week of all the schools affected in england, as rishi sunak rejected claims he oversaw budget cuts as chancellor that meant raac concrete couldn't be replaced in as many schools, as the department for education had wanted. it's also been a testing day for the education secretary, who had to apologise for her frustration, expressed in salty language, after being questioned over the government's handling of the situation. and remember, in the middle of all this are thousands of children, still unsure whether their schools will be fully open for the start of the new term. we will talk to parents and teachers and analyse the finances around school maintenance and rebuilding. but first chris mason in westminster on the politics of crumbling concrete. you probably hadn't heard of it

until the other day but this stuff, concrete that can get crumbly, is building into a political mess. did rishi sunak, when he was chancellor, walk away from repairs happening sooner? the man who used to be in the department for education's most senior civil servant reckons he did. i was absolutely amazed to see that the decision made by the government was to halve the school rebuilding programme, down from 100 a year to 50 a year. the chancellor, of course, was, at the time? rishi sunak. the prime minister attempted to grip all this today by chairing a meeting attended by cabinet ministers and others, and he insisted afterwards he was proud of his record in his last governmentjob. one of the first things i did as chancellor in my first spending review in 2020 was to announce a new ten—year school rebuilding programme for 500 schools. that equates to about 50 schools a year that will be refurbished or rebuilt, and if you look at what we've been doing over the previous decade that's completely in line with what we've always done.

speaking to those involved in the internal negotiations within government at the time, the department for education did want more money for school repairs. the treasury wasn't persuaded. but i'm told there were other, bigger priorities then for education, not least the amount of funding allocated per pupil. this concrete wasn't regarded as dangerous then as it is now. it's the education secretary who has decided on the need for greater caution, but there wasn't much caution when she went all potty—mouthed after an interview this afternoon. does anyone ever say, you know what, you've done a bleep good job, because everyone else has sat - on their_ and done nothing? no signs of that, no? it turns out, no, not really. a few hours later, a new outfit and a rather different tone... i'd like to apologise for my choice language there. that was unnecessary but it was an off—the—cuff remark based on the interview. the interviewer had been pressing me quite hard on why

i hadn't solved this issue, which had been going on since 1994. it is frustrating because we are doing everything now to take a leading position, to be on the front foot. but the consequence of that is schools like this one in eltham in south london having to close the gym, canteen and toilets. obviously, what has now been said shows the extent to which there is, you know, this passing the buck within the cabinet. is rishi sunak strong enough to do anything about it? i doubt it. for some pupils, parents and teachers, it isn't going to be the start of the new term they expected. this is a controversy decades in the making, since we were wearing bell bottom trousers in the 70s but one wonders how much of a problem it is for this government as we speak? speakfor yourself, for this government as we speak? speak for yourself, clive! for this government as we speak? speakforyourself, clive! it for this government as we speak? speakfor yourself, clive! it is for this government as we speak? speak for yourself, clive! it is a tricky one, for exactly that reason.

i have been trying to unpick the anatomy of this row today to try to understand where it has come from and where it's going to and i know you will talk to faisal islam about the bigger picture attitude this government and its tory predecessor over the last decade have had as far as spending is concerned but on this particular one there has been a tension between the department for education on the one side and the treasury on the other about the allocation of money for school repairs to do but as i briefly mentioned, the department for education a couple of beers ago, i'm told by seniorfigures, was education a couple of beers ago, i'm told by senior figures, was also concerned about things like free schools, the spending allocated per pupil —— a couple of years ago. at the time, the perception of risk as far as this concrete was concerned was much lower, there was an awareness of it but it was not as big a deal as it was now on what happened over the summer is that there were incidents brought the attention of the education secretary and that led her to change her outlook fundamentally on risk and

thatis outlook fundamentally on risk and that is what has led to these headlines in the last couple of days. the question now is where it goes from here. we will get that list, promised by the education secretary, this week as far as schools in england are concerned but there are par more public buildings thanjust there are par more public buildings than just schools. we there are par more public buildings thanjust schools. we have heard today that court buildings built in the 19905 are all being looked at. previou5 examination of court buildings, you guessed it, looked at the 605, 705, when you were in those trousers, and the 805 but the problem has expanded and there is every prospect this wider problem will continue to expand and continue to post tricky que5tion5 will continue to expand and continue to post tricky questions for the government. to post tricky questions for the government-— to post tricky questions for the covernment. , ., ~ , ., government. 0k, chris, thank you, chris mason _ government. 0k, chris, thank you, chris mason at _ government. 0k, chris, thank you, chris mason at westminster. - well, the education secretary says school5 suspected to have raac concrete will be inspected "within weeks," and she believes hundreds, not thousands, are affected. around 1500 schools have yet to respond to surveys on the extent of raac in their buildings, causing huge uncertainty for parents and teachers. our education editor, branwenjeffreys, has more.

in clacton—on—sea, summer holidays are over, but three schools are delaying opening this week, leaving parent5 trying to sort out childcare. duncan had just got back from holiday, but he's had to ask for tomorrow off work to look after his two children. it's just very frustrating this has come right at the end of the school holiday, and it could have been avoided if the school had been informed at the beginning of the school holiday. the fact that, apparently, they have known there have been problems forfive years, that all of a sudden, now, safety is being put first, which is wonderful and we're glad that it is. but if there were que5tion5 five years ago, really it should have been dealt with five years ago. his children's primary school had a survey done injuly, but only last week did the government advice change. just five minutes drive away, another primary school waiting for surveyors. parents with children at the school

unsure what happens next. still don't know properly, down to the nitty gritty. iju5t know part of the school might be cut off, but i'm not fully sure. so, how do you tell if this is raac? these concrete roof panels will need to be checked by a 5urveyor. so, the situation here is we actually don't know. this area has not been surveyed, so we don't know whether or not there is raac present. some cla55room5 shut until they know either way. claydon high school in suffolk has almost 800 pupils. where raac is confirmed, the building is completely closed off. it is devastating. the start of a school year should be about looking forward, it should be exciting, we should be celebrating the great results we got in the summer, instead of which we are now scrambling to deal with just getting children back into school. so the term will start with remote

learning for some year group5, while they try to get temporary cla55room5 on site. for this school in warwick, this is particularly hard to swallow. in a letter to parents, the head teacher says last year they put in a bid for the buildings to be rebuilt. they were told in december they were not in critical enough condition. one building has a roof with raac and the school now doesn't know if any of it can be used. this afternoon, the education secretary faced mp5 for the first time on this issue. i'm confirming today that we will publish the list of the 156 schools with confirmed cases of raac this week, with details of initial mitigations in place. in scotland, some temporary classrooms are already in place. 35 schools now confirmed to have raac there. wales has identified two, while in

northern ireland surveys continue. schools are propping up ceilings, closing class rooms, still trying to get the term going this week in england, unable to tell parents how long it will take to sort this out. faisal islam is here but first again to branwen so how long will it take to branwen so how long will it take to get these fixes sorted out? just the initial stages of this could last well into next year. firstly they have to check the remaining schools, and they are saying they will get the surveys done within the next couple of weeks but of course more schools could be added to the list. then you are into the majors just to get by for the next few months, things like temporary classrooms. in bradford, parents have been told that two primary schools there may not get their temporary classrooms for two to three months and we know a school in essex which was meant to get them at the start of term will not get them

until november. even though it closed injune. there could be a very bumpy road ahead with the children are learning remotely or in temporary classrooms for many months and that is before you even get to rebuilding and replacing roofs or buildings that have rackety in them. a lot of uncertainty. is this all about money or priority or both? jt’s is this all about money or priority or both? �*, ., ,., is this all about money or priority or both? �*, ., when if you have a problem in the background, the treasury will swing towards capital spending, spending on buildings, because these cuts can be made more quickly and in the short term at least they are seen as politically easier that we may be testing the limits of that. you have seen that trend of the 2010, the coalition austerity, these capital budgets came down and it will happen again after 2025 but within the capital budget, education used to be a much bigger priority but one in

thousand five in the capital budget was spent on education and now it's about one in £20, not the case for something like hospitals. so you get these two effects hitting something quite unique which is the fact that in the 505 and 605 and 705, these construction techniques were used with a 30—110 year life span but that is now running out. of the bill for thatis is now running out. of the bill for that is due and impact it is overdue and it comes at a time when the capital budgets are going to be squeezed again, albeit after the next election, a challenge for whoever wins.— next election, a challenge for whoever wins. ., whoever wins. indeed, 0k, faisal islam and branwen _ whoever wins. indeed, 0k, faisal islam and branwen jeffreys, - whoever wins. indeed, 0k, faisal| islam and branwen jeffreys, thank islam and branwenjeffreys, thank you. the chief constable of the police service of northern ireland, simon byrne, has resigned. he'd been facing calls to quit, after a number of controversies in recent weeks, including an accidental release of details online on thousands of staff. chris page, has that story from belfast. are you going to resign today? northern ireland's most senior police officer had often been summoned for questioning recently,

but today he didn't arrive at another emergency meeting of the board, which held him to account. simon byrne had decided his time was up. i would like to record my thanks and appreciation to simon for his work over the course of the last four years as chief constable. he is undoubtedly a dedicated police officer with a deep respect for the profession of policing. how can public confidence in the police service of northern ireland now be rebuilt? we have officers and staff who have been enduring, faithful, loyal, hard—working — we should never forget that. and they are there for our community. they have been here for the long—term, short—term and have been through many, many difficulties. officers and civilian workers have been dealing with an increased risk to their safety. last month, details of all 10,000 staff were mistakenly published online. detectives believe the information is now with dissident republican paramilitary groups who continue to target members of the security forces.

last week there was more controversy. a court ruled that two officers who carried out this arrest had been unlawfully disciplined because of pressure from the nationalist party sinn fein. in his short resignation statement, mr byrne said the last few days had been "difficult for all concerned regardless of the rights and wrongs. " so, the search is beginning for somebody new to take on one of the toughestjobs in uk policing. being chief constable here means dealing with unique political sensitivities and security threats. the role will be all the more demanding after such a massive crisis of trust in the police's leadership. chris page, bbc news, belfast. the white house says the north korean leader kim jong—un the white house says the north korean leader kimjong—un is planning to make a rare trip outside of his country, travelling to russia

to have talks with vladimir putin. china has long been the close partner for north korea, china has long been the close partnerfor north korea, what china has long been the close partner for north korea, what is happening with the russians? this is about arms deals, _ happening with the russians? this is about arms deals, this _ happening with the russians? this is about arms deals, this is _ happening with the russians? this is about arms deals, this is about - happening with the russians? this is about arms deals, this is about the l about arms deals, this is about the russians going international shopping for more arms and we know they have already been taking delivery of drones from iran to use in the waragainst delivery of drones from iran to use in the war against ukraine and now they are looking for extra artillery shells and missiles from north korea. it is not the first time missiles and shells have gone from north korea to russia but they were imported previously by the wagner group before the demise of its leader, but this will be a high level meeting between vladimir putin and kimjong—un, and they have met before in the eastern port of nadi. in 2019 and it is thought that may be the place where they will meet again in the coming months, but the

americans have warned these negotiations are actively advancing and they have also said they will pursue this at the united nations because there are countless security council resolutions and sanctions against north korea that means they should not be doing this. the other thing to take away from this is that this is a sign that may be russia, despite its military might, is running short of some of the things it needs on the battlefield. gary, thanks forjoining _ it needs on the battlefield. gary, thanks forjoining us. _ the labour leader, sir keir starmer, has reshuffled his top team ahead of the next general election. the deputy leader, angela rayner, is now also the shadow levelling up secretary, a position previously held by lisa nandy. she's been demoted to shadow ministerfor international development. and there's a return for some of those who served under tony blair and gordon brown, including hilary benn. he's back as the shadow northern ireland secretary. our political correspondent iain watson is at westminster. any surprises in this? no major

any surprises in this? no ma'or surrises any surprises in this? no ma'or surrpses but i any surprises in this? no ma'or surprises but what is i any surprises in this? no major| surprises but what is interesting and what has been the focus is what would happen to angela rayner and she has undoubtedly done very well out of the reshuffle butjust she has undoubtedly done very well out of the reshuffle but just two years ago when keir starmer tried to move her there was an almighty fuss and divisions were on display but not today. keir starmer said giving her a big job and also the type of shadow deputy prime minister is also evidence of their strong and close relationship —— the title. but also those broadly on the left have been moved to the margins and the prime example is lisa nandy because when keir starmer first became labour leader he made her shadow foreign secretary but now she's the shadow of just one secretary but now she's the shadow ofjust one bit of that, international development. and those who have been close to tony blair and gordon brown have remained imposed or been promoted. liz kendall, a stalwart of new labour is

the new shadow work and pensions secretary, but the top team have won a big task, to convince people before the election they are not just an effective opposition but they really are an alternative government.— they really are an alternative government. they really are an alternative rovernment. . ., ., , the government says it's exploring the introduction of a new rule on patient safety for the nhs, after appeals from the mother of a 13 year old girl, whose death in hospital was preventable. martha mills died two years ago, after failures in treating her sepsis at king's college hospital, and now the health secretary, steve barclay, says he'll explore making it easier for patients to receive an urgent second medical opinion. martha's mum, merope mills, has been speaking to mishal husain. she had one of the world's greatest laughs, a sort of gift to the world, her laugh. it was the sort of laugh that was an invitation to be part of whatever she was finding funny. she was a 13—year—old full

of promise and plans, but in 2021 martha mills fell off her bike and went into hospital. her injury was treatable, but after she contracted sepsis she deteriorated. the word sepsis was never used with us. we know now that the consultants were using the word sepsis amongst themselves. i said to the consultant, "i'm worried it's going to be a bank holiday weekend and she's going to go into septic shock and none of you will be here," and i was just reassured again this was just a normal infection. and... so we weren't listened to and martha herself was ignored. about five in the morning she needed the loo so she got up and she had a sort of massive seizure, a fit, in my arms. it was horrible, and... ..when she came round, she lay on the bed and she said to me, "it feels like it's unfixable."

and of all the many things that went wrong, the thing that i find most unforgivable is that they left her so long — she knew she was going to die. tell me about the change that you want to see, because you have obviously thought a lot about this, you've looked at what happens in other countries, and at what happens in other parts of the nhs today? essentially, i would like patients to have more power when they are in hospital because when you are in hospital you are totally powerless. so the idea of martha's rule, it effectively would formalise the idea of asking for a second opinion. she really talked about the future a lot. she talked about being a film director or an engineer or a writer, and i think about what she'd be doing and how much fun she would be

having, and how much fun she has already missed. merope mills speaking to mishal hussein. king's college hospital, where martha was treated, says they're "deeply sorry" that they failed her, and they've improved how they deal with parental concerns. a bbc investigation has found that five mothers have died after family courts allowed fathers, who'd been accused of abuse, to apply for contact with their children. some of the women took their own lives. a separate study found that 75 children were forced to see fathers who'd previously been reported for abuse. our special correspondent ed thomas reports. it's really bad. he's kept my child. it's killing me. the words of a desperate mother we're calling grace. they asked me to come home. messages, after the family court transferred the residency of her child to her former partner. i need to talk, i'm falling apart.

we can't identify grace. family courts operate mostly in secret, to protect the privacy of children and families. but we've discovered the man in her case was a convicted child rapist, and the family court knew. he got custody. i'm like a puddle on the floor. grace's friends told us she only found out about her ex's conviction after they met. she told me she felt sick. her world wasjust turned upside down. a short time later, grace died. i'm unable to eat or sleep. it's a mess. dead, dead, dead. i hate the family court. it was almost like they signed her death warrant, i think. who did? the court. 100%, the family court. cries sorry.

we've investigated the deaths of five women linked to trauma suffered inside the family court. we've spoken to friends, family, obtained coroner's reports and published family courtjudgments. four of the women were accused of a disputed concept called parental alienation — when a child rejects one person because of manipulation by the other. one mother suffered the most horrendous abuse — she was raped, controlled. her partner monitored her, using cctv in their home. she was accused of parental alienation, and during family court proceedings she took her own life. parental alienation is used frequently, but has been heavily criticised, especially in domestic abuse cases, and we've learned the government is investigating its use in family courts. this is the national scandal of our time. dr elizabeth delgano studied parental alienation claims against 45 mothers. she found 75 of their 77 children were forced into contact

with fathers reported for abuse. credible evidence of abuse was diminished or ignored completely. i'm talking about criminal convictions, so there were fathers who were convicted paedophiles. this is not a small issues, it is the biggest issue in my inbox. labour'sjess phillips, shadow minister on domestic violence, is demanding urgent reform. the push on parent alienation is dangerous, and it's harming children and women. the urgency of this is for governments to act on. it is a national tragedy, and we just don't know it's going on. in a statement, the ministry ofjustice said the judiciary has issued new draft guidance for consultation on alienation claims, and it had improved the family court, to better protect domestic abuse victims. ed thomas, bbc news.

details of organisations offering information and support on domestic abuse are available at... at least three people have died and three others are missing, after record rainfall caused this heavy flooding in central spain across madrid, catalonia and valencia. roads and train lines had to be closed, and helicopters were sent to some areas to rescue those who'd scrambled onto roofs to escape the rising waters. check this — water flooding a metro train in madrid, from where guy hedgecoe has the latest. this weather event was a dramatic and deadly end to the spanish summer, striking just as many people were returning to work after the holidays.

the central province of toledo was one of the worst hit areas. a man died after being trapped in a lift there, apparently because of the flooding. another man was already dead when rescue services reached him near his car. just west of madrid, one man is still missing after his car was swept away, although his ten—year—old son was rescued after clinging to a tree for eight hours. just over a week ago, many parts of the country were seeing temperatures of up to a0 celsius. spain often sees heavy rain at the end of the summer but this weather event, caused by a mass of low pressure, has been much more extreme than normal. in and around madrid, where rivers burst their banks, flooding has damaged homes and left many residents struggling to keep the water out. 200 people were evacuated. translation: the water came i into the house as if it was a wave. it went upstairs and we panicked a bit. we tried to solve the problem as best we could. we put the dog on the roof.

the flooding caused severe travel disruption with an estimated 60,000 rail passengers affected. the high—speed rail link between madrid and the southern andalusia region has now resumed but other services have been disrupted throughout the day. the extreme weather has now eased off. guy hedgecoe, bbc news, madrid. tennis now and jack draper, the last british player in the singles at the us open, is now out. draper's best run in a grand slam tournament finally ended less than an hour ago after a brave fight against the number eight seed. joe wilson reports. it starts with the serve. but jack draper has the all—round game to win points on any court against anyone. fourth round, new york, there you go. thing was, his opponent here had just the same flair and rather more experience. andrey rublev — a familiar face in the second week of a grand slam — took the first set 6—3. now, rublev is russian so,

in tennis terms, officially neutral. his emotions are unmissable. yeah, it was a double fault, it helped draper take the second set. and the british player led in the third. he had a break but couldn't sustain it. back came rublev, decisively. read his body language now. fierce match, hot day, and draper was struggling. no wonder — he had barely been fit enough to even start this tournament, and he got to the fourth set in the fourth round. defeated but draper is 21 and his rivals recognise a contender. joe wilson, bbc news. time for a look at the weather. here's louise. it is all about the sunshine and the heat at the moment and temperatures today peaked at 30 across england and wales. we have not seen term just like this for quite some time, and the highest temperature over the summer was 32

and the highest temperature over the summerwas 32 injune, and the highest temperature over the summer was 32 injune, can you believe it? over the next few days it is not out of the question that we could actually see temperatures peaking at 32 degrees, maybe even higher, which would be a bit ironic, as september is meteorological autumn, but i hope you enjoy it. sunny and warm for many, this is the story, high pressure influencing the weather across us, a large area of low pressure setting out to the west which has been bringing the unsettled weather across spain we have seen in the news recently. we are tapping into a southerly flow over the next few days which will continue to drive up warmth and increasing humidity as well. as we start tuesday, a bit of mist and low cloud but a bit more of a breeze especially in the south—west so it should not be an issue, lots of sunshine as we go through the day tomorrow, generally temperatures again of similar values and we could see 28, 29, possibly 30 in again of similar values and we could see 28,29, possibly 30 in a

again of similar values and we could see 28, 29, possibly 30 in a few areas if the sunshine continues. as we go to the evening and overnight, temperatures will hold up so it will be a beautiful start wednesday morning with lovely sunrise and a mild start and as we go to the day on wednesday, increasingly hot and humid, temperatures might peak at 31, 32 by the humid, temperatures might peak at 31,32 by the middle part of the week and a similar story as we go through thursday. the possibility of triggering a few sharp possibly thundery downpours in the west as we go through the day on thursday, but these will be few and far between and on the whole temperatures peaking at around 30 degrees once again and the story continues next weekend. does anyone does anyone ever does anyone ever say, you know what, you have done a good job because everyone else has sat on their arse

and done nothing?