Some schools in England must shut buildings amid concrete safety fears - but does this affect East Sussex?

The UK Government has told more than 100 schools, colleges and nurseries in England to immediately close buildings that are made with a concrete prone to collapse, unless safety measures can be put in place.

The material is known as Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC).

Following the concerns, a spokesperson for East Sussex County Council confirmed that one school in the county has the unsafe concrete and will be taking an ‘urgent inspection of the site.’

A spokesperson said: “East Sussex County Council has been informed by the Department for Education that there is one school in the county that has unsafe concrete. The school is undertaking an urgent inspection of the site and reviewing whether any parts of the building need to be closed. Further details are not available until the school has informed families about any changes for the new term next week.”

Gillian Keegan, the Secretary of State for Education and MP for Chichester, said recent cases have ‘reduced our confidence’ in buildings with confirmed RAAC.

"This decision has been made with an abundance of caution and to prioritise the safety of children, pupils and staff ahead of the start of the new term.”

Mrs Keegan said more than 50 schools, colleges and maintained nursery schools have already been supported to ‘put mitigations in place this year’. She confirmed 104 further education settings that are ‘immediately impacted’ have been spoken to, adding: “I want to reassure parents and teachers that the vast majority of schools will be unaffected.

"Of those impacted, the majority will remain open for face-to-face learning for all pupils, because only a small part of the site is affected. Children should attend school as normal in September, unless families hear differently.”

On its website, the government said schools ‘must vacate all spaces or buildings that are known to contain RAAC’ – unless they ‘already have mitigations in place to make the building safe’.

A spokesperson added: “We’re working hard to make sure any disruption to education is kept to a minimum.”