so far, a full list of the schools affected has not been made public. worth taking a moment to find out a bit more about the concrete at the centre of all this. raac, to give its full name, is reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete. it s a lightweight concrete that was used in roofs, floors, and walls between the 19505 and 1990s. it s a cheaper alternative to standard concrete because it s aerated, or bubbly . however, it s less durable with a limited life span of around 30 years, and its structural behaviour differs significa ntly from traditional reinforced concrete. the health and safety authority says raac is now beyond its life span and may collapse with little or no notice . let s get more now from our correspondent helena wilkinson, who s at a school in south london. just take us through what had teachers or having to suddenly deal with now. it teachers or having to suddenly deal with now. . , ., ., , with now. it was around this time yesterday. with now. it was
there was a warning notice in 2018 because of an episode in a school in kent that alerted schools to how to identify rac and to be aware of it. more guidance was issued in 2021 and 2022 about how to manage raac. and the expert advice at that point was that if it s not in a critical condition, then it s safe to use continue to use rooms that have provided the raac isn t in a critical condition. so just what is different about the type of concrete at the centre of all this? raac to give its full name, is reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete. it s a lightweight concrete that was used in roofs, floors and walls sacross floors and walls across europe between the 1950s and 1990s. raac is a cheaper alternative to standard concrete because it s aerated, or bubbly . however it s less durable with a limited lifespan of around 30 years, and its structural behaviour differs significantly from traditional reinforced concrete. the health and safety authority says raac is now beyond its
of 2024 election year? and another milestone for artificial intelligence. england and scottish football clubs have been using artificial intelligence to scout and recruit players. three members of the far right group the proud boys, who are staunch supporters of donald trump, have been given long prison sentences for their role in the storming of the capitol building in washington dc. a leader of the group, joseph biggs, an army veteran, was given 17 years, the longest sentences yet handed out. two others were jailed for ten and 15 years. our north america editor, sarah smith, reports from washington. there s probably about 300 proud boys there marching. thousands of people marched on the capitol on the 6th of january 2021. the violence that followed has already led to hundreds of convictions, with the longest sentences going to the people who organised and coordinated the riot. the proud boys, a neofascist group, saw themselves as donald trump s army, said prosecutors, who w
and it is important once it had that that the government acted on it i as swiftly as possible. of course i know thei timing is frustrating. but i want to give people a sense of the scale - of what we are grappling with here. there are around 22,000 schools. in england and the important thing to know is we are expecting 95% of those schools will not - be impacted by this, i around 50 schools have already been mitigated. another 100 are in the process of being so. . 0ur expectation is in a matter- of weeks the bulk of the remaining schools that will have this issue will be identified as well. - also an important context to know is that in many cases this could be limited to a single classroom i for example, so people should have a sense of scale of what might be happening as well. earlier, a former top civil servant at the department for education accused mr sunak and the uk treasury of refusing to fund school repairs adequately, despite being warned that lives were at risk f