Revealed: 11 crumbling schools, colleges and universities in SNP ministers' seats

Following Scottish Liberal Democrat analysis which shows that there are 11 educational institutions affected by potentially dangerous concrete in the constituencies of SNP ministers, Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP accused SNP ministers of being asleep at the wheel while places of study crumbled in their own back yard.  

This tally includes 2 schools in the constituency of former Education Secretary Angela Constance and 2 in the constituency of Paul McLennan, the Minister for Housing.

In June, Mr Cole-Hamilton called on the First Minister to set up a fund to support the removal of RAAC from buildings such as schools and hospitals after his party uncovered that RAAC was present in at least 37 schools across Scotland.  

Earlier this week, Mr Cole-Hamilton uncovered dozens of university and college buildings which are affected by RAAC.

This week UK schools minister Nick Gibb told the BBC’s Today programme that “over the summer” the government discovered a number of instances where RAAC that had been considered to be low risk “actually turned out to be unsafe”, including a beam which collapsed that had no external signs that it was a critical risk.

Mr Cole-Hamilton said:

“These damning figures show that SNP ministers have been asleep at the wheel while school, college and university buildings crumble in their own backyards.

“These ministers with schools, colleges and universities affected by RAAC in their own constituencies ought to be demanding to know from the First Minister why more was not done over the summer months when these buildings were empty.

"The Scottish Government have known about the risks this concrete poses for a long time, we have been calling for action to keep people safe for months. We cannot wait for tragedy to be the catalyst for meaningful government action."