RAAC: “liabilities that are incurred because of decisions made prior to devolution remain the responsibility of the UK Government”

Welsh Government is looking to UK Government to foot any bills relating to ‘RAAC’ issues.

Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) is a material used in construction in many buildings between the 1960s and 1990s. Its presence has been confirmed in a range of public sector properties across the UK including schools and hospitals and has prompted a flurry of reviews and inspections.

Any remedial work could cost large sums, and multiplied across various entities in Wales, a big bill could need paying.

The issue was raised in the Senedd yesterday afternoon, with Clwyd South MS Ken Skates asking the First Minister, “What assessment has the First Minister made of the existence of RAAC in Welsh buildings?”

The First Minister replied, “Officials are currently undertaking a comprehensive review of all buildings on the Welsh Government estate, as well as the wider public domain, to establish whether RAAC is present or likely to be present. Plans are being developed to remediate risk where necessary, and the returns received to date indicate only isolated instances of RAAC identified so far in Wales”

The answer was welcomed by Mr Skates, who then teed up an answer over who should foot any bill, “First Minister, that is hugely relieving for the people of Wales and, thankfully, it’s in no small part due to the huge sums of money that the Welsh Labour Government has invested in the twenty-first century schools programme.

“First Minister, given that the issue predates devolution and the use of RAAC in Welsh public buildings was signed off by UK Government departments, can we assume that it will be UK Government that will foot the repair bills and that it won’t fall on Welsh Government to put those mistakes right?”

The First Minister replied, “It is a very important point that Ken Skates raises. We ought to be confident of that because the fiscal framework and the rules that underpin the relationship between devolved Governments and the UK Government on these matters are clear that liabilities that are incurred because of decisions made prior to devolution remain the responsibility of the UK Government.

“It’s not been a responsibility that they have been willing to shoulder in more recent times. I’ve had this discussion a number of times now with UK Ministers in relation to coal tip safety, where the liabilities that we see today are the result of actions taken far before devolution ever began. I believe that in this case the same principle should apply in just the way that Ken Skates set out.

“Thankfully, so far—and the work is still ongoing, and we’re making sure that it’s done carefully and comprehensively—the impact of RAAC in public buildings in Wales is at the modest end of the spectrum. But in the longer run, these buildings are not going to get any better, are they?

“That’s what we know about RAAC, that it is a progressive condition, and while we keep it carefully under review, more buildings in future are going to need to be attended to. And that’s why establishing that principle that the body who pays should be the body that made those decisions in the first place is the one that we will pursue in discussions with the Treasury. ”