The crucial questions over the crumbling concrete crisis

Welcome to Monday’s Early Edition from i.

The start of the new school year is always riddled with anxieties. This hasn’t been helped by both the funding and cost-of-living crises, which means some students will return this week to bigger class sizes, fewer teaching assistants and less extracurricular activities. But now there’s another worrying question too – is my child’s school structurally safe? More than 100 schools will not reopen this week due to the presence of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC), which most people will now know is prone to disintegrate. The revelation came after the collapse of a beam previously thought to be safe. “A beam that had no sign… that it was a critical risk and was thought to be safe collapsed,” Schools Minister Nick Gibb said last week, and admitted more classrooms could be shut. Yesterday, Jeremy Hunt said more structural problems in the buildings could emerge in the coming weeks or months. Today, Education Secretary Gillian Keegan will be questioned in the Commons over the issue and face more demands to publish the full list of schools affected. The issue raises a host of questions – we’ll take a look at them, after the news

Today’s news, and why it matters

A weight-loss jab described as a “game changer” in the fight against obesity will be available to some NHS patients from Monday, its makers have announced. Wegovy, which was supposed to be rolled out on the NHS earlier this year, is being given a “controlled and limited launch” due to ongoing supply problems, according to Danish manufacturers Novo Nordisk.

The Government is to crackdown on so-called “drip-pricing” such as hidden fees included in the price of train tickets and food deliveries. It comes as the Department for Business and Trade revealed that three-quarters of providers in the transport sector have hidden fees in their product prices.

People living with asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease will see their lives made harder as climate change increases heatwaves, pollen, dust storms and wildfires, researchers have warned. The changing climate is also fuelling more frequent extreme weather events, leading to extreme air pollution and dust storms, as well as heavy rainfall and flooding, leading to higher humidity and mould in the home, according to a study.

Efforts by Conservative MPs to block the development of solar farms on agricultural land could cost bill payers £5bn, new analysis has found. An amendment to the Energy Bill, currently passing through Parliament, by Alicia Kearns, the MP for Rutland and Melton, aims to stop solar farms from being built on high-quality agricultural land.

August saw drivers hit by one of the biggest monthly fuel price rises in nearly a quarter of a century. The average price of unleaded finished August at 152.25p – up from 145.57p at the beginning of the month, adding nearly £4 to a tank. Diesel went up from 146.36p to 154.37p, making a fill-up £4.41 more expensive. The rising prices at the pumps have been caused by the increasing cost of oil, due to producer group OPEC+ reducing supply.

Five questions over the crumbling concrete crisis:

Will the full list of schools be revealed? So far we know that 156 schools have been identified as having the material, and 104 schools in England will not reopen this week due the presence of RAAC, but it is feared as many as 7,000 schools could be affected. According to the Telegraph, some schools will have to wait until December to find out whether they are at risk, with 450 waiting for inspections by qualified surveyors. Labour is demanding the government publish the full list of schools affected, which ministers have said they will do in “due course”, but a source claimed that unions and headteachers do not want it to be revealed. Ex-Cabinet Minister Dame Priti Patel said: “The key question is when will the government tell local education authorities and schools what they will and will not find. Many of the affected schools are maintained local authority schools and single academy trusts which cannot afford the costs of repairs.”

What has the government said it will do? A YouTube video posted by Education Secretary Gillian Keegan appeared to be an attempt to reassure parents and students about the crisis. But most viewers were distracted by the unusual choice of backing music, and many others were angered she had spent time on a “slick” video instead of answering questions live on air. That aside, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has said the Government will “spend what it takes” to make schools safe. Some headteachers are calling for a more robust reaction. Steve Chalke, the founder of Oasis Community Learning, told i: “I think the Government has got to issue an emergency response, whether it’s done through Cobra or some other means. We need to know what the plan is and what the timetable is.” Read the full story here.

Where will the money come from? The issue of funding is already a thorny one. Treasury sources have said the cost of repairs could be managed through the DfE’s existing capital budget, PA reported. But uncertainty over what will be funded has caused angst. Unions reacted after Jeremy Hunt would not guarantee that headteachers would be reimbursed with extra money for rentals, saying only that “we will make sure they can keep their children safe”. General secretary of the National Education Union Daniel Kebede said it is “essential that all costs are covered by Government, not this halfway house where school leaders are uncertain of and unable to trust Government guidance as to what costs will be incurred by their school.” Labour, meanwhile, have attacked the government on its historical record of public funding. Shadow Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said: “This crisis stems from the Conservatives’ decision to axe Labour’s Building Schools for the Future programme and repeated raids on education capital budgets – chickens are now coming home to roost. Using already-allocated money to just make safe school buildings with RAAC is funnelling money away from other necessary work to upgrade schools.” As Jane Merrick points out: “Labour’s programme was cancelled by Michael Gove in July 2010, halting rebuilding work on more than 700 schools which could have averted many of the issues caused by the unstable concrete. David Cameron and George Osborne claimed they would “fix the roof when the sun was shining”, but it turns out, literally and metaphorically, they did not.”

Could the issue hit the Tories at the next election? Some senior party figures are warning that voters will be “angry” at the Government over the “toxic” issue. One senior Tory MP told i the crisis would be seen as another example of “broken Britain” that comes “against the backdrop of nothing working in our country”. One Tory MP warned: “Labour have already said it has become an analogy for the current Government. This is emotive, because our children are our children and something of this nature resonates in a way you can’t give a computer-says-no type response to.” Read the full story here.

What other buildings might be affected? A report by the Collaborative Reporting for Safer Structures warns the material was used “not only for schools, hospitals and other public buildings such as police stations… there is no reason why it could not have been used in many other buildings, both public and private”. Angus Drummond, from RAAC Consulting and Solutions, told the Times he thinks thousands of buildings could hold the crumbling concrete. And one Tory backbencher told i many other public buildings still need checking. “It’s not a localised issue at all and this week in Parliament is going to demonstrate this,” the MP said. “Also this is not just schools, this is hospitals, police stations, the whole shebang.”

 Around the world

 US President Joe Biden says he is “disappointed” that his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping plans to skip this week’s G20 summit in India. “I am disappointed… but I am going to get to see him,” Mr Biden said on Sunday, but did not say when that meeting may take place.

All festivities at the famously free-spirited Burning Man Festival in the middle of Nevada’s Black Rock desert were suspended after heavy downpours turned the site into a mudslide and rendered the entrances impassable. Police said they were investigating at least one death “which occurred during this rain event” – though there was no immediate detail on the nature of the incident.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky has announced that he has dismissed his defence minister Oleksii Reznikov. In his nightly address Mr Zelensky said Mr Reznikov, who has led the ministry since before the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, will be replaced by Rustem Umerov, a Crimean Tatar politician.

French actor and director Mathieu Kassovitz, best known for his film La Haine and his role in Amélie, is in a “worrying” condition after a motorbike accident in greater Paris. French media said he was preparing for a role in an upcoming film when he was “very seriously injured”, including head trauma and a fractured pelvis.

A man who allegedly allowed his 10-year-old son to drive a pick-up truck on a freeway in Arizona has been arrested. The vehicle was said to be speeding and weaving between lanes on State Route 101, and it was claimed there was an “open container of alcohol” inside.

 Watch out for…

 Sir Keir Starmer, who is reportedly set to reshuffle his shadow cabinet today, as former top civil servant Sue Gray starts her new role as chief of staff. 

 Thoughts for the day

 No amount of goodwill should whitewash Mohamed Al-Fayed’s complicated legacy. The search for the real Mohamed Al-Fayed goes with him to the grave, says Stefano Hatfield.

Christianity is no longer in – but I’m craving the routine and community the church gave me. Growing up between Catholicism and the Church of England didn’t leave me with an abiding faith, writes Rebecca Reid.

Barcelona is full. Rome is a wreck. It’s time we got used to summer holidays in Surbiton. Travel, at its heart, should be a search for the unfamiliar and uncanny. Increasingly, that search is closer to home, argues Tanya Gold.

 Culture Break

 ‘It’s like becoming a toddler again’: Ronald K Brown on the stroke that almost killed him. After a life of movement, a stroke left the dancer and choreographer unable to walk. Now recovering and choreographing a show at Sadler’s Wells, he’s in no mood to slow down.

 The Big Read

 The 50 questions that Rishi Sunak should answer before the next general election, but won’t. The Prime Minister is facing numerous challenges, from demands for onshore wind, to weighing up whether to keep the pension triple lock, writes Hugo Gye.

Sport

 Max Verstappen scores perfect tens across the board on historic day for Red Bull. Verstappen has broken the record for the most consecutive wins in Formula One history after claiming his 10th straight victory in Monza, writes Kevin Garside.

 Something to brighten your day

 I tried out a radical approach to parenting for two weeks – and it made me a better mother. When the parents change, promises child-behaviour expert Paul Dix, everything changes. Mother of two, Hannah Fearn puts his theories to the test