Ceredigion County Council has said there are no immediate concerns for RAAC in its school buildings – however further inspections will be undertaken.
The statement comes following a week of turmoil across England and the news on Monday that two schools on Anglesey have been forced to closed following the identification of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC).
The Welsh Government confirmed on Monday that Ysgol David Hughes in Menai Bridge and Ysgol Uwchradd Caergybi in Holyhead on Anglesey had closed.
More than 150 schools in England have been identified as having RAAC, with 56 requiring immediate action.
A spokesperson for Ceredigion County Council told the Cambrian News: “We have no immediate concerns that reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) was used to construct Ceredigion school buildings, however further detailed assessments will need to be undertaken to fully confirm the situation.
“The Building Maintenance Service have an ongoing schedule of Health and Safety visits to all Local Authority buildings, including schools.”
Wales’ Education Minister, Jeremy Miles, MS, said: “In response to last week’s announcement in England, we have been in contact with all local authorities in Wales over recent days. In these discussions, only two schools have been identified as having RAAC and both schools have been managing the parts of their buildings which contain RAAC safely, in accordance with expert advice.
We are undertaking further work to verify the position across Wales and a review of the latest information held by local authorities is underway. We expect to have the results of that within the next two weeks. Upon receipt of this information we will engage with specialist structural engineers to work at pace with local authorities and further education institutions in Wales in undertaking urgent appraisal of any newly identified instances as to the presence of RAAC in education buildings. We anticipate completion of this work by the end of December.
The approach in Wales differs from that of the DfE – who are currently asking schools directly to undertake the initial assessment for the presence of RAAC – but we feel that the delivery timeline in Wales is likely to be not too dissimilar to that of the DfE and other UK Governments.
The concrete concerns have also hit healthcare with several wards at Withybush Hospital being closed after RAAC was found, with some also identified at Bronglais Hospital, although this is believed to be isolated to a lift shaft which is being rectified.