This is Tories' Britain

Left to wither with a criminal lack of care, propped up with ad hoc fixes, not fit for purpose... and a danger to life

- NICK SOMMERLAD

NINE schools affected by crumbling concrete were turned down for rebuilding funding last year, the Mirror can reveal.

We visited one of them, Scalby in Scarborough, North Yorks, where steel props have been installed to secure ceilings at risk of collapse.

Work to support other parts of the school now known to have reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete has exposed crumbling ceiling blocks that school bosses fear could make parts of the premises unusable.

Scalby pupils are among thousands who will start this term once again learning from home due to the RAAC crisis, which the Mirror exclusively revealed last week. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is under fire for related decisions as Chancellor.

At No11, he chose to slash the number of schools getting rebuild cash from 100 to 50 a year.

Department for Education mandarins had claimed the number needed was 300 to 400.

The Mirror has compared the list of schools closed in full or part, released yesterday by the DfE, with the winners and losers of the most recent round of the School Rebuilding Programme.

We found 20 schools affected by RAAC that applied to the SRP last year. Eleven were successful but nine failed in their bids for help.