Gillian Keegan at it again as she tells schools 'get off your backsides'
Gillian Keegan has once again hit out at schools, telling authorities to "get off their backsides" over concrete crisis.
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Gillian Keegan has once again hit out at schools, telling authorities to "get off their backsides" over concrete crisis.
Speaking to BBC Radio 2, she said: "The annoying bit and this was probably a bit of my frustration yesterday, is despite asking since March 2020, there's five per cent of schools or responsible bodies that have not responded to the survey.
"Now hopefully all this publicity will make them get off their backsides.
"But what i would like them to do is respond, because I want to be the Secretary of State that knows exactly in every school where there is Raac and takes action."
WATCH GILLIAN KEEGAN'S OUTBURST BELOW
Keegan was yesterday caught making a series of "off-the-cuff" remarks when her microphone was left on following an interview with ITV.
The Education Secretary accused others of being "sat on their a***s" over the school Raac crisis.
She had been speaking to ITV news about the concrete crisis after it emerged that there could be hundreds more schools affected.
Just moments after the interview ended, Keegan was recorded criticising her colleagues.
She said: "Does anyone ever say, you know what, you've done a f***ing good job because everyone else has sat on their a**** and done nothing."
Keegan added: "Any sign of that, no?"
The MP was later forced to apologise for what she described as an "off-the-cuff remark" and "unnecessary choice of language", after No 10 warned her that the behaviour was "not acceptable".
Rishi Sunak was also drawn into the crisis, after it emerged that he watered down the amount of funding allocated to repair crumbling schools during his time as Chancellor.
The Department for Education's (DfE) top civil servant from 2016 to 2020, Jonathan Slater claimed that Sunak cut down a request to replace up to 400 schools to 100.
Slater alleged that, in the next funding round, the number was slashed to just 50.
Speaking to GB News this morning, Education Minister Nick Gibb confirmed that the DfE asked for more funding than was granted by the then Chancellor.
While he denied that Sunak is "dodging" responsibility, he admitted that the department "put in bids for more" funding.
Speaking to GB News' Breakfast with Eammonn and Isabel, Gibb said: "Those facts are just simply not true. We've been building or refurbishing 50 schools a year from the beginning when we came into office, right through our period in power…
"One of the first things that Rishi did as Chancellor was set up the school rebuilding programme, 500 schools to be built, re-built or refurbished between 2020 and 2030.
"Now, of course, we always put in bids for more. That's what all spending departments do, but we've kept that 50 a year building programme right through Covid, don't forget, and he was making difficult decisions.”
Keegan was yesterday caught making a series of "off-the-cuff" remarks when her microphone was left on
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He added: "We were spending £450 billion on the furlough scheme, on protecting businesses during lockdown during Covid, we were world leaders in tackling the challenges of Covid.
"And despite all that expenditure, we're still continuing with this big school rebuilding programme of 500 schools to be re-built or refurbished between 2020 and 2030."
Sunak's Education Secretary Gillian Keegan was yesterday caught making a series of "off-the-cuff" remarks when her microphone was left on following an interview with ITV.