Northfield Academy’s future in doubt as RAAC roof repairs could cost £1m

The future of Northfield Academy is on the line as the cost of repairing a roof riddled with RAAC could soar beyond £1 million.

Last year, Northfield was one of seven city schools deemed to be at risk of having reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC).

The lightweight material was used regularly between the 1950s and 1990s, but safety fears about its stability emerged last year.

The full scale of the problem at the 1950s-built Granitehill Place facility has now become clear.

At a meeting of the education committee today, officials warned that the troubled school would need such significant work that its “long term future” will need to be discussed.

Could RAAC problem at Northfield Academy shape its future?

The talks came following “detailed inspection and testing” at the building.

Engineers discovered that so many slabs on the roof have been made using the dangerous form of concrete that upgrades could cost more than £1m.

Local authority top brass confirmed this is “not budgeted for”, so would not be happening any time soon.

And a report by service manager Andrew Jones cautioned that there might not be any easy answers.

How will future of Northfield Academy be decided?

He wrote that construction work on the roof would “likely cause significant disruption to the running of the school”.

Mr Jones added: “Further work isrequired to fully assess the options for Northfield Academy in the long term, to provide a suitable solution for dealing with the RAAC.”

A comprehensive report will now be drawn up, though it was clarified that no central funding is expected to help deal with the nationwide concrete crisis.

Why not just fix the roof?

Labour councillor Ross Grant asked about the possibility of repairing the roof.

Property chief Stephen Booth said work was ongoing to determine the true price of such a project, which could top seven figures.

He stressed that it would be best to look into “what the options might be” before ordering repairs.

Mr Booth added: “If we get to around £1m, we need to look at what alternatives we have.”

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Councillor Ken McLeod asked about using soon-to-be-surplus Northfield primary schools to “decant” pupils should they need to leave the academy in the event of work.

Mr Jones said that is “something they would consider”.

“All of the options are on the table at the moment,” he added.

Is it dangerous?

However, officials stressed that pupils are not at any risk of harm from the RAAC.

Mr Booth said the slabs are “in good condition”, which allows education chiefs some time to “come up with solutions”.

He explained that it could be that the roof is one of many factors to be considered, alongside other “life cycle issues”, when the council sets out plans to replace ageing academies.

The senior official said this could be “over the next 10 to 15 years”.

In the meantime, the meeting heard that affected areas will be monitored regularly.

And should the roof fall into worse condition, “appropriate action will be taken to ensure the safety of building users”.

At the same meeting, plans to reduce the number of primary schools in Northfield were driven forward.

Further work will take place on consolidating pupils in fewer buildings, and officers will now see if this work could tie in with studies on a potential Northfield Academy replacement.

Papers state: ” This may generate new options for consolidating the primary schools.”

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