§ 27. Mrs. René e Shortasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if she has now received the report from 325W the Building Research Establishment about the collapse of the Camden school hall; how many other educational buildings have been built with the same detailing; what advice she is giving to local education authorities about methods of making these buildings safe and what is the total cost of so doing; and if she will make a statement.
§ Mrs. ThatcherI am expecting the report shortly. It will be published as soon as possible after receipt.
Sixteen educational buildings were considered to be sufficiently close to the Camden design to be specially examined. Of these six have been found to be safe, two are still being investigated, and parts of eight have been found to require remedial work or may require remedial work. The nature of the work required to make the last group safe will vary with the design of the individual buildings and the cost cannot be estimated at this stage.
I shall be consulting with my colleagues to establish whether the report requires further action by the Government, and another statement will be made after its publication.