Ministers have been accused of being clueless over the crumbling concrete crisis after placing a school demolished seven years ago on a RAAC watchlist.

A letter sent to MP Alex Cunningham, signed by Education Secretary Gillian Keegan, listed three schools in his Stockton North constituency as potentially containing the deteriorating material.

But St Michael’s Catholic Academy confirmed to the Echo they had no RAAC in their building as it was fully demolished and rebuilt in 2016, years after its use in construction ceased.

Read more: LISTED: The North East schools forced to close over collapse-risk concrete fears

Cunningham posted the three names on X, formerly Twitter, but later had to clarify the site wasn’t affected.

The Northern Echo: Stockton MP Alex CunninghamStockton MP Alex Cunningham (Image: STUART BOULTON)

The school said they wanted to make sure parents weren’t ‘unnecessarily worried’.

It comes just a day after the Tory minister claimed she was doing a ‘f***ing good job’ while others ‘sat on their a**e’ in a sweary rant caught on camera.

She later apologised saying it was an ‘off-the-cuff’ remark.

St Michael’s in Billingham, Stockton, said it had been placed on the watch list in error and its potentially-RAAC-riddled building was demolished seven years ago.

Deputy Headteacher Marc Scott told the Echo: “The students at St. Michael's are very fortunate to have a modern, updated, and vibrant school facility.

“However, it appears that St Michael's has been placed on a ‘watch list’ for RAAC in error. The school was completely rebuilt in 2016, many years after RAAC stopped being used in public buildings.

“We do not want the staff, parents and students at school to be worried unnecessarily.”

The Northern Echo: The old school building was demolished in 2016.The old school building was demolished in 2016. (Image: GOOGLE)

Meanwhile investigations at the two other schools named in the letter – William Cassidi CoE Aided Primary School and Frederick Nattrass Primary - are ongoing.

Cunningham, Labour MP for Stockton North slammed ministers as “utterly clueless” calling for Gillian Keegan to “get to grips” on the issue and provide parents and teachers with confidence.

He said: “Since the DfE sent their letter about suspected RAAC in three schools in my constituency it now transpires that schools have been erroneously placed on the department’s ‘watch list’ and are in fact safe.

“In one case, the DfE doesn’t even appear to realise that St Michael’s had been completely demolished and rebuilt in 2016 and were planning to survey a non-existent building.

The Northern Echo: The new school buildingThe new school building (Image: GOOGLE)

“Ministers appear to be utterly clueless about this issue, and it would be funny if the situation wasn’t deadly serious. How can anyone get assurances from anything they are saying about this matter if they don’t even have the up-to-date information?

“The Secretary of State and her team need to get to grips on this issue and provide confidence to parents and school leaders.”

The Echo contacted the other schools listed in the letter.

The Northern Echo: Education Secretary Gillian Keegan.Education Secretary Gillian Keegan. (Image: PA)

More than 100 schools were told to close their doors this week spelling chaos for parents seeking last minute childcare and teachers preparing for the new term. 

Read next:

Get more from The Northern Echo with a Premium Plus digital subscription from as little as only £1.50 a week. Click here.

A spokesperson for the Department of Education said: “We have been clear since Thursday about the number of schools immediately impacted by RAAC. It is vital that schools are given time to inform parents and consider their next steps, with extensive support from our caseworkers, before the list of affected schools is published.

“52 of the 156 RAAC cases identified already have mitigations in place, and while some of the remaining projects will be more complex, many will range from just a single building on a wider estate, down to a single classroom.

“We are incredibly grateful to school and college leaders for their work with us at pace to make sure that where children are affected, disruption is kept to a minimum, and in the even rarer cases where remote learning is required, it is for a matter of days not weeks.”