Scots schools with dangerous concrete rises to forty as SNP Government blasts the Tories

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Humza Yousaf has said the number of schools identified with dangerous concrete has risen to forty.The First Minister also said 254 NHS buildings are believed to be affected amid mounting fears over safety.Scots Labour leader Anas Sarwar accused the Government of delaying the next phase of its school rebuilding programme, which could help with repairs.Councils are still pulling together a full picture of how many schools possess the dodgy concrete known as RAAC, described by one expert as like a “concrete Aero bar”.Yousaf said at Holyrood the number of schools with RAAC had risen: “I can confirm that, given we have further information back from local authorities, 40 schools have been identified that have Raac in them, and of course the appropriate mitigations have been put in place.”He also said Ministers were informed of the substance “years” ago after it was linked to the collapse of a school roof south of the border.Although no schools have closed, temporary classrooms have been set up as a response to the problem, affecting over 1000 pupils.In a separate statement, Social Justice Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville said she had asked councils to provide information about their schools by the end of the week.She also hit out at the Tory Education Secretary Gillian Keegan’s handling of the crisis.

She accused the UK Government of a “deeply concerning level of chaos" and said Keegan had a “disregard” for the devolved administrations.Sarwar said the Scottish Government had not done enough: “The news this week of the risk of RAAC in our schools is causing understandable anxiety for parents and pupils. “The Institute of Structural engineers say they began inspections in schools for RAAC in 2018 and the Scottish Fire and