Buildings across the public sector will be affected by the crumbly concrete crisis, a cabinet minister has admitted.
Defence secretary Grant Shapps said “virtually all estates” will have buildings which were constructed using reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC).
More than 100 schools were last week ordered to either completely or partially close so that urgent repair work could be carried out.
It is understood that hospital and court buildings are also affected by the scandal, but Shapps this morning became the first minister to reveal the true extent of the problem.
Asked on BBC Radio 4′s Today programme whether RAAC was present in Ministry of Defence buildings, he said: “There will be RAAC in the MoD estate, there will be in virtually all estates.”
Education secretary Gillian Keegan has come under fire for her handling of the crisis after she was caught on camera saying she deserved more credit for doing a “fucking good job”.
She has also angered headteachers by telling them to “get off their backsides” and fill out surveys on whether their schools have a RAAC problem.
Meanwhile, Rishi Sunak has also been dragged into the scandal after it emerged that while he was chancellor, he rejected calls from the education officials for 200 schools a year to be replaced. Instead, he only gave the green light for 50.
Labour leader Keir Starmer this morning visited a school in North London affected by the RAAC scandal.
He said: “Today is the first day back for many secondary schools. Children should be coming back ready to learn, and to be in this mess is something that is taking a real strain on families, on children and on the schools themselves.”