CHILDREN starting school on Monday have been let down by the Tories’ shocking failure to plan for school closures due to deteriorating concrete, England’s Children’s Commissioner has said.

Dame Rachel de Souza blasted the government for notifying more than 100 schools to close buildings containing reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (Raac) just days before the start of the new term.

She told BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg that she was “shocked to hear schools were forced to close days before the start of term,” amid accusations ministers failed to act quickly enough to mitigate risks posed by the material raised in 2018.

“We learned from the pandemic that the worst thing we did was keep children away from school,” she said.

“I am extremely disappointed and frustrated that there was not a plan in place for this happening.

“The government might not have known that it would happen this week, but we knew the estate was in this situation.”

“There should have been planning in place and a really good school building programme that has addressed this over the years.

“The least [we can expect is] safe, fit-for-purpose buildings.

“There’s not enough money and it’s not moving quick enough.

“We need a far better grip on these issues that really affect children and young people.”

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt today admitted that asbestos in schools is also being considered alongside the potential danger of the crumbling concrete, but denied austerity was to blame.

He would not speculate on the potential cost of fixing the problem and refused to give a deadline for when the disruption would be fully resolved, saying the government will “spend what it takes”  to make schools safe, insisting Education Secretary Gillian Keegan had “acted immediately” after new information came to light over the summer about the potential risk of the lightweight material used up to the mid-1990s.

The NEU teaching union last week blasted the Tories for failing to properly replace Labour’s £55-billion Building Schools for the Future scheme they scrapped in 2010.

Labour, which has called for a survey of all public-sector estate built buildings using the material, plans to compel the government to reveal information about what it knew about the use of Raac and the dangers it posed in a Commons vote this week.