the dfe have taken the only _ quite a few years now.a few years now. the dfe have taken the only action it _ quite a few years now. the dfe have taken the only action it can - quite a few years now. the dfe have taken the only action it can in - quite a few years now. the dfe have taken the only action it can in the i taken the only action it can in the short—term and that is to protect children against po55ible catastrophic failure. there has been a task force in place who have been gaining a better understanding of raac and understanding the make up but what we need to do now is bring back an intense focu5 but what we need to do now is bring back an intense focus on developing a programme with government to address the problem and use technology that is available. we have been working with innovate uk developing nonintrusive methods that can identify and mitigate un5afe buildings, helping to accelerate the problem, keep the costs down, so this is something we want to work with government straight on. you may not know with government s

that will be down to the dfe, in you supply? that will be down to the dfe. in terms _ you supply?, i have to say, my grandfather started the company. we have, with in our own hire fleet, 32,000 buildings which are operated out of 35 centres around the uk. funnily enough, one of our depots is in nairn. her around the uk. funnily enough, one of our depots is in nairn.— of our depots is in nairn. her name was nairn. — of our depots is in nairn. her name was nairn. but _ of our depots is in nairn. her name was nairn, but she _ of our depots is in nairn. her name was nairn, but she was _ of our depots is in nairn. her name was nairn, but she was in - of our depots is in nairn. her name was nairn, but she was in irving. i we area we are a national company with enormous resources. we have a manufacturing plant in south wales, where these buildings are actually manufactured. ok. where these buildings are actually manufactured.— where these buildings are actually manufactured. ., , . manufactured. ok. thanks very much. leave me a — manufactured. ok. thanks very much. leave me a business _

the dfe caseworkers are being helpful, but we need to know that these classrooms are that are supposedosed to be at our disposal. how does this leave _ supposed to be at our disposal. how does this leave you feeling right now? ~ . . .,, , does this leave you feeling right now? . , . now? well, i am cross, but at the moment that _ now? well, i am cross, but at the moment that feels _ now? well, i am cross, but at the moment that feels like _ now? well, i am cross, but at the moment that feels like wasted . moment that feels like wasted energy. we need to get as many children back in front of teachers as we can. yet now, i need to focus on the solution, not the problem, at the moment. it might thank you very much, sarah skinner.— much, sarah skinner. thank you for 'oinin: us much, sarah skinner. thank you for joining us here _ much, sarah skinner. thank you for joining us here on _ much, sarah skinner. thank you for joining us here on bbc— much, sarah skinner. thank you for joining us here on bbc news. - much, sarah skinner. thank you for joining us here on bbc news. now. joining us here

the dfe paid for both the building work and the temporary marquee here in sandbach. a similar way. ellie price, bbc news. our weather is going to stay pretty wet and windy this week and of low dominated by this area of low pressure which contains the dominated by this area of low pres gusts hich contains the dominated by this area of low pres gusts are contains the dominated by this area of low pres gusts are possible. the dominated by this area of low pres gusts are possible. and some mph gusts are possible. and some localised disruption. temperatures are still on the mild side and as the rain stops, the winds will drop very quickly, so you will notice when that front pushes through. on thursday, that low pressure to the north of scotland. heavy outbreaks of rain. but some heavy showers quite widely affecting england and wales. some are likely to be thundery at times. little in the difference on friday, still very windy across the north west, plenty of showers around, especially across north—western areas. some of those showers could have hail and thunder mixed in.

has _ say, rest assured at the moment the dfe has taken a safety first position— dfe has taken a safetyexperts have been sent in to assess— until experts have been sent in to assess them. an engineering surveyor will assess— assess them. an engineering surveyor will assess the raac and i do say it is 0k— will assess the raac and i do say it is ok because they think it is structurally sound. all it will need strengthening. it will be a small portion— strengthening. it will be a small portion of— strengthening. it will be a small portion of closed schools that need additional— portion of closed schools that need additional strengthening. as i said it depends on the extent of that. if your school— it depends on the extent of that. if your school is, well, none of them aren't— your school is, well, none of them areh't new. — your school is, well, none of them aren't new, these old schools built in the _ aren't new, these old schools built in the 19605. a decision might be made _ in the 19605. a decision might be made they— in the 19605. a decision might be made they might spend £100,000 on

the dfe paid for both the building work and the temporary marquee here in sandbach.rail operator avanti west coast could continue to run long—distance services between london, manchester and glasgow for the next nine years, after the government awarded it a new long term contract. the department for transport said it took the decision following "significant improvements" in service. it marks a remarkable turnaround for the firm, which a year ago was threatened with being axed. 0ur transport correspondent katy austin is here. explain more? we have had two rail contracts in — explain more? we have had two rail contracts in oz, _ explain more? we have had two rail contracts in oz, avanti _ explain more? we have had two rail contracts in oz, avanti west - explain more? we have had two rail contracts in oz, avanti west coast i contracts in oz, avanti west coast for initially three years but up to nine years and then cross country for the initialfour nine years and then cross country for the initial four years and then “p for the initial four years and then up to eight yea

and then the dfe kindly surveyed the school for us and kindly commissioned a report.rt is what identified the fact that we had raac. however, i think the issue is that the policy changed so our raac was deemed high, medium and low. a combination of those three. there is a higher rating called "critical", we didn't have any "critical". and the policyjust going into the summer holiday was that only raac rated "critical" needed some immediate attention. so, we were following that policy right up to mid—august where we were still engaging with the dfe to organise an additional survey and then an action plan for the remedial work over time. and then the policy changed to be any room with raac could no longer be used. let's bring in our panel — paul waugh, political editor there is reporting that it closed you and right ovary and went for the most hostage often —— unilaterally. the bad news is it's notjust schools, its public buildings like social housing. all sorts of different buildings that have been built with cheap material. i different buildings that have been built w

dfe was subsequently allocated an average of £3.1 billion a year of relevant funding from hm treasurygnificantly below what the government estimates is required to maintain the school estate. i feel that elements of the school are not entirely safe. i couldn't put my hand on my heart and swear by it, but i've done everything that i possibly can as head teacher to try and ensure that the children are safe, but there are many repairs that need to be done in the building. today, the prime minister said his 2020 spending review had led to more money being spent on schools. funding for school maintenance and rebuilding will average £2.6 billion a year over this parliament as a result of that spending review, which represents a 20% increase on the years before. indeed... indeed, mr speaker, farfrom cutting budgets, as he alleges, the amount spent last year was the highest in a decade. i feel that if the government want to find money for things, they do. and what's the priority? is it our children's education? is it the buildings that we put our children into? our children are the future. th

our plan was to then meet again with the dfe , to go meet again with the dfe, to go through a more detailed contact from the dfe, probably around mid—august. so at that point we were still operating under the risk system that was introduced before, before the summer. so from my understanding , something's happened to another building that i thought i just heard heard another building that i thought ijust heard heard another i just heard heard another presenter talking about that wasn't rated critical. it was rated either over medium risk or high risk. and because of that, then what has happened from the department is they've changed the risk rating. so rather than it just being critical buildings that can't be used, it's anywhere with rack. and we have anywhere with rack. and we have a significant number of buildings , classrooms with rack buildings, classrooms with rack in them , 22 in total. and now in them, 22 in total. and now they're all out of action. >> well, when was when was your hit to poke the blame at anyone for it? no, no. when was your school built . school built. >> uh, 1960.

in september 22, we started a programme where dfe sends a professional surveyor to assess where the raac, and only take buildings out of use for critical raac cases. —— degraded for. such was the level of concern that i asked professionals to seek evidence of risks, including four noncritical raac. with this proactive approach, we discover details of three new cases over the summer, with raac that would have been traded as noncritical, i felt about warning. —— graded as noncritical. there was one in a school in a different educational jurisdiction, and in this instance, the plank that bills remain suspended resting on a steel beam. as the plank was intact, the dfe engineers were able to investigate the situation, and in their professionaljudgment, the panel professional judgment, the panel affected professionaljudgment, the panel affected would have been previously rated as noncritical, but it had fails. ministerial colleagues and i were already extremely concerned, and then a third failure of raac panels code at a school in england in late august. this was a panel that had been previous

ijust feel there is too much red tape from the dfe, and _ there is too much red tape from the dfe, and_ to catch up with us. kevin, do you accept that criticism? _ to catch up with us. kevin, do you accept that criticism? we - to catch up with us. kevin, do you accept that criticism? we should i accept that criticism? we should obviously listen _ accept that criticism? we should obviously listen to _ accept that criticism? we should obviously listen to people - accept that criticism? we should obviously listen to people who i accept that criticism? we should i obviously listen to people who are experts _ obviously listen to people who are experts at — obviously listen to people who are experts at the _ obviously listen to people who are experts at the sharp _ obviously listen to people who are experts at the sharp end. - obviously listen to people who are experts at the sharp end. if - obviously listen to people who are experts at the sharp end. if we i obviously listen to people who are i experts at the sharp end. if we take the policy— experts at the sharp end. if we take the policy

teacher is not happy with the government's department of education. 0ver the course of this week, the dfeebuild grant for it, saying i that the building wasn't in high - enough need in order to be rebuilt. so we have applied for a rebuild of this block last year, - which was declined. and just over a week since the raac concrete crisis came to light. concrete crisis came to light, it's becoming more and more apparent that the problem is not just in schools. glasgow university has had to close the top floor of one of its halls of residence buildings for safety checks. the university of east anglia has also had to shut some of its campus, and the forum theatre in stockport has had to temporarily close its doors. meanwhile, heathrow airport says it's reviewing how it will deal with raac concrete in one of its terminals, although it says it's been aware of the problem for some time. add to that hospitals, court buildings, the list goes on. all of it proving a headache for the government. speaking on his way to the g20 summit, the prime minister, rishi sunak, said each government department wo

it's not entirely something that can be laid, laid at door of the dfe, but this at the door of the dfey have too much money too and much power. >> well, birmingham, i can't remember birmingham, remember when birmingham, birmingham recent birmingham certainly in recent times been run by the times has been run by the conservatives. presumably they had in the failure to pay had a role in the failure to pay people equally . people equally. >> it was, of course run by the liberals. >> indeed. that was even >> indeed. but that was even before were . charged. but before you were. charged. but but i mean, and it's not always the case where one party rule produces a bad i mean, manchester, for instance , which manchester, for instance, which has been a one party state now, it used to be conservative, one party state effectively for 20 years and also had a very years now. and also had a very good chief executive who was rather well run. and the rather well run. so and but the other thing would yep, rather well run. so and but the othe birmingham ld yep, rather well run. so and but the othe birmi

it's not entirely something that can be laid, laid at door of the dfe, but this at the door of the dfenk they have too much money too and much power. >> well, birmingham, i can't remember birmingham, remember when birmingham, birmingham recent birmingham certainly in recent times been run by the times has been run by the conservatives. presumably they had in the failure to pay had a role in the failure to pay people equally . people equally. >> it was, of course run by the liberals. >> indeed. that was even >> indeed. but that was even before were . charged. but before you were. charged. but but i mean, and it's not always the case where one party rule produces a bad i mean, manchester, for instance , which manchester, for instance, which has been a one party state now, it used to be conservative, one party state effectively for 20 years and also had a very years now. and also had a very good chief executive who was rather well run. and the rather well run. so and but the other thing would yep, rather well run. so and but the othe birmingham ld yep, rather well run. so and but the othe

and we were assured by the dfe that any alterations to the dfe that any alterations to the building wouldthe problem is, helen, if money is spent on fixing, correcting this, then it could delay other repairs that need doing anyway . doing anyway. >> yes, it's fair to say that the stock of certainly older schools is not great and many children are not being educated and in buildings that we would wish to see. >> i know that we are competing for funds with lots of other requirements of public services , hospitals, etcetera . but it's , hospitals, etcetera. but it's clearly this is going to have to be sorted. now >> what do you make of the timing of all this? clearly it's put headteachers in a really difficult position and the government is saying, well, we've only just been made aware of the summer holidays of this beam that failed. but also beam that failed. but we've also had at had this top civil servant at the department of education, jonathan , look, jonathan slater, saying, look, we warned there were 400 schools that needed these repairs with what he said was a critical risk to life .

what the dfe is doing _ responsible for this. what the dfe is doing is— responsible for this.uick enough, _ we had an overall view. when you say not going quick enough, what - we had an overall view. when you say not going quick enough, what do i we had an overall view. when you say not going quick enough, what do you | not going quick enough, what do you mean? that the teachers, head teachers inspecting their own buildings, are not doing it quick enough? buildings, are not doing it quick enou~h? ~ :, buildings, are not doing it quick enou~h? : ., ., buildings, are not doing it quick enourh? : ., ., 4' ., enough? well, i wanted to know centrally who — enough? well, i wanted to know centrally who had _ enough? well, i wanted to know centrally who had looked i enough? well, i wanted to know centrally who had looked for i enough? well, i wanted to know. centrally who had looked for now, whether— centrally who had looked for now, whether they had done the assessment, whether they had found it or not. _ assessment, whether they had found it or not, how it was being dealt with _ it

he also talked about the £30 million spent of our money on the dfe, the education offices.thought the response from mr sunak was really, really strong. actually, 1% affected. he said that the labour's building schools for the future , which is now as a panacea , which is now seen as a panacea for all these issues. in fact for all of these issues. in fact , at the time the nao, the independent national audit office, then that excluded office, said then that excluded 80% of schools a third of them were more expensive than it needs to be. and don't forget, the came in to power when the tories came in to power when there's no money so there's no money left. so i think some some context think he gave some some context , think, to the attacks on the , i think, to the attacks on the government 3 or 4 government over the past 3 or 4 days. wonder why those days. i just wonder why those attack to attack lines that were used to good in chamber were good effect in the chamber were not to gillian keegan. not given to gillian keegan. >> certainly the attack >> and certainly the attack li

dfe this is what happened. the dfe knew that there was this issue.education. sorry. yes. yes sorry. so sent out sorry. so they sent out a questionnaire to pretty much every school and trust in england asking them, do you have any of this material on your school estate and 90% of them have now come back . have now come back. >> that was was it 2019, mark, sorry. but when they first sent out that letter asking the questionnaire, i think i think in 2019, there were some warnings issued. >> but i think that the questionnaire itself went out last year. okay. and the point is, for those that had rack , is, for those that had rack, they then surveyed those schools and they categorised them as high risk or medium risk or low. the reason all of this suddenly blew up is a little over a week ago, a roof beam from a classroom fell in. obviously, whilst the school was off on the summer term, but in a low risk school . so that set all of these school. so that set all of these alarm bells ringing. so now they're checking all of those schools again. and that is what

. >> and you know, quite frankly, i've worked with the dfe for decades and a lot of the time i feel theyt a clue. and the ministers sometimes lack the courage. and i think slowly the courage. and i think slowly the getting through the messages are getting through to people. of to young people. one of the problems that problems we have is that teachers, these don't have teachers, these days don't have any outside the any experience outside the classroom. taught 35 classroom. i taught for 35 years, i did host of other years, but i did a host of other jobs as well. they need to know what's in the world of what's happening in the world of work to train the work. so we need to train the teachers about other teachers about what other opportunities ofsted opportunities there are. ofsted when they go into schools, tend to evaluate exam success, academic success and university entrance. they're not looking at how many youngsters go off and do is a do vocational training. it is a crisis. compete crisis. we've got to compete with of the world. we with the rest of the world. we don't have choice in

. >> and you know, quite frankly, i've worked with the dfe for decades and a lot of the time i feel they clue. and the ministers sometimes lack the courage. and i think slowly the courage. and i think slowly the getting through the messages are getting through to people. of to young people. one of the problems that problems we have is that teachers, these don't have teachers, these days don't have any outside the any experience outside the classroom. taught 35 classroom. i taught for 35 years, i did host of other years, but i did a host of other jobs as well. they need to know what's in the world of what's happening in the world of work to train the work. so we need to train the teachers about other teachers about what other opportunities ofsted opportunities there are. ofsted when they go into schools, tend to evaluate exam success, academic success and university entrance. they're not looking at how many youngsters go off and do is a do vocational training. it is a crisis. compete crisis. we've got to compete with of the world. we with the rest of the world. we don't have choice in thi

because i don't think the dfe are going to be able to afford it from their own.s going to ask that, you know, we keep being told that, no, the capital budget is there and it will have to which we to be within that which we assume means there's assume then means there's going to sacrifices cuts to have to be sacrifices or cuts elsewhere to make for that. elsewhere to make up for that. well, right. to update you, the pubuc well, right. to update you, the public accounts committee, which remember, cross—party remember, is a cross—party committee hillier committee chaired by meg hillier , widely respected across the commons . we have we have a commons. we have a we have a session which was already planned this forthcoming planned for this forthcoming thursday half 9:00 to thursday morning, half 9:00 to look into racking hospitals, because that's a parallel issue , if you like, that was already programmed . we now subject to a programmed. we now subject to a few technicalities , very likely few technicalities, very likely to have a session about rack in schools next m

and actually, the dfe had asked schools— and actually, the dfe had asked schools that for this information on— actually provided. it is important to focus on the facts, is there raac used _ to focus on the facts, is there raac used in _ to focus on the facts, is there raac used in construction, has a survey of that— used in construction, has a survey of that school been undertaken, when will that— of that school been undertaken, when will that survey be undertaken, to ensure _ will that survey be undertaken, to ensure that any risk to pupils and to staff— ensure that any risk to pupils and to staff are — ensure that any risk to pupils and to staff are minimised? as ensure that any risk to pupils and to staff are minimised?— ensure that any risk to pupils and to staff are minimised? as you say, there are still _ to staff are minimised? as you say, there are still a _ to staff are minimised? as you say, there are still a lot _ to staff are minimised? as you say, there are still a lot of— to staff are minimised? as you say, there are still a lot of questions i there are still a lot of questio

the dfe paid for both the building work and the temporary marquee here in sandbach.s. folk singer roger whittaker, famous for his 1969 hit song the last farewell and expert whistling, has died at the age of 87. whittaker started singing when he was studying medicine. his other hits included durham town and new world in the morning, and he sold nearly 50 million records around the world. 50 million! incredible. yellow incredible stuff. let's talk about the weather. there has been some beautiful pictures of... the weather. there has been some beautiful pictures of. . ._ beautiful pictures of... good morning- — beautiful pictures of... good morning. wow. _ really active couple of weeks, plenty — really active couple of weeks, plenty of — really active couple of weeks, plenty of viewings. partly because the skies — plenty of viewings. partly because the skies are clear but the sun is going _ the skies are clear but the sun is going through an active phase so you -et going through an active phase so you get bombarded with more electrons, charged _ get bombarded with more

the shadow education secretary, were she in the dfe? well, we're not you're not sure yet.today we have keir starmer saying there's no more money being raised income tax raised through any income tax increases. is increases. so already labour is boxing in and what boxing themselves in and what can they can afford to pay for? >> well, okay, christopher, thank you. we'll leave it there. chris is our head politics chris is our head of politics here at gb news as well. happy birthday to google. google is the most widely used search engine and it's celebrating its 25th anniversary. so what i'm laughing at is we used to have books before google came along . books before google came along. >> encyclopaedias. remember those ? those? >> yeah, of course. you know, and that's how you know, i suppose somebody like myself is how your whole education was. you went to a book, but now you wouldn't even know. now you don't even have to type in anything. you just speak. >> it's amazing, isn't it? >> it's amazing, isn't it? >> and it appears and it's there. well a co—funded by university frie

but if the dfe are as efficient as they say, they're going to be, it shouldn't last too long. other other forms of shelter. so they expect schools to be most of the schools affected to be able to get back to working normally in a fashion in a week or two. i think it was entirely a sensible decision by them to say, well, the advice we'd had before isn't up to scratch. we're really worried about the safety of our children. we've got to act now . children. we've got to act now. whereas the long term . for this, whereas the long term. for this, i think that's something we really need to look at and understand . and there's a lot of understand. and there's a lot of politicking going on at the moment, but but as a nation, we need to get better at building really good long term result, decent and flexible buildings and not accepting something cheaper and quicker as as an alternative. and that's a decision we've got wrong. ever since the war and really need to examine why we have continued doing that . doing that. >> are you arguing, lord lucas, that there's no need for any children?

. >> the dfe, the education department in england, recognised the very likely risk department in englanduildingshe very likely risk department in england, re

the dfe say they will be collating that data this week, and conducting more building surveys on the affectedr of hospitals, universities and theatres have also identified it. ellie price, bbc news. let's take a look at today's papers. many of them follow up on the arrest of a parliamentary researcher, amid claims he was spying for china. the telegraph says security services are poised to unmask more chinese spies in the coming months. the guardian reports that the uk is facing what it calls a "growing epidemic" of preventable cancer cases, with 18a,000 this year caused by poor lifestyle habits like smoking, drinking and sunburn. "terror on our streets" is the daily mirror headline, about a dog attack in birmingham which left several people — including an 11—year—old girl — injured. and the express leads on the news that the retired tv newsreader alastair stewart has revealed he's living with dementia, and has suffered a series of minor strokes. this was the scene in knutsford, cheshire, yesterday. it's the start of a penny farthing race which takes place in the town just once every ten years