School and Hospital Building Standards Concern

Local MSP Alex Cole-Hamilton has called on the Scottish Government to help local health boards and education authorities to replace a dangerous building material that has been discovered in some public sector buildings constructed in the 1960s and 70s.

Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) is a light bubbly precast concrete, widely used in building construction for decades. Following a safety warning notice, issued by NHS Scotland in February, stating this material could be liable to sudden catastrophic failure, Alex has written to all councils and health boards asking where this has been found. So far 37 schools have reported its use and 4 health boards.

Alex said: “A school roof in Kent collapsed because of this and while thankfully no one was hurt, we need to understand where exactly this stuff is in Scotland. We need to be sure that it is made safe or replaced and the Scottish Government should be prepared to create a national fund to cover the millions of pounds needed to address this.

"Our pupils and our patients must be kept safe, with no disruption to either learning or treatment.”