Education Minister Gillian Keegan said a'stock of portacabins' had been made ready to replace dangerous crumbling concrete classrooms for children. We have three portacabin providers, so we've laid up a stock of portacabins, so that people can be prepared quickly to do that if they need temporary accommodation, he said on Sky News. We have also looked at the propping company, so we have a propping company that's nationwide, the Department of Education will pay for all of that. Kay Burley questioned the minister about how the repair work would be funded and if it was coming out of existing school budgets. Keegan said the Department for Education would finance all'mitigation works'.
The Education Secretary said there were 104 that are not mitigated that are being mitigated right now. Their status changed to critical after an incident in August where a panel fell from a roof that had previously been assessed as non-critical. Chancellor Jeremy Hunt moved to reassure parents that the Government would'spend what it takes' to address the problem, but Treasury sources later said money for repairs would come from the Department for Education's existing capital budget. Ministers need to get a grip and the Department for Education was in complete chaos, said Bridget Phillipson, shadow education secretary.