Ministers have launched a government-wide inquiry into the use of crumbling concrete in public buildings following fears that nurseries, offices, shops and leisure facilities are in danger of collapse.
Every Whitehall department has been ordered to assign a civil servant to identify the use of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) across the £158bn government estate.
Inspectors are thought to have no idea how many of the thousands of government buildings were constructed with RAAC.
So far more than 150 schools where RAAC was potentially in use have been identified. Last week a primary school in Southend, Essex, was closed because of the safety risk.
