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FOI release

FOI – 2023-000373 Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) (HTML)

Published on 03 November 2023

Date received – 06 October 2023 | Date responded – 03 November 2023

Request

In accordance with Freedom of Information legislation, I would be grateful if you could comply with the following request.

  1. Please confirm how many of the 157 remaining NHS buildings in Scotland which were suspected to have RAAC have gone through the on-site survey stage phase of the Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete Survey Programme.

  2. Please confirm a) if any of those buildings which have completed the on-site survey stage phase of the Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete Survey Programme, have been confirmed as having RAAC and b) what the RAG rating attached to this RAAC is.

  3. Please confirm whether any RAG ratings has been applied to the 97 buildings which have been confirmed to have completed the on-site survey stage phase of the Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete Survey Programme.

  4. Where a RAG rating has been applied to any of those 97 buildings, please confirmed what remedial/monitoring recommendations have been given for those buildings.

Response

I refer to your freedom of information request that we received on 06 October 2023. I can advise you that we have now completed the search of our records and can provide you with the following information:

1. Please confirm how many of the 157 remaining NHS buildings in Scotland which were suspected to have RAAC have gone through the on-site survey stage phase of the Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete Survey Programme.

As of 31 October 2023, 188 of the 254 properties have gone through the on-site survey stage phase of the Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete Survey Programme and we are on schedule to complete all of the surveys in question by the end of November 2023.

2. Please confirm a) if any of those buildings which have completed the on-site survey stage phase of the Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete Survey Programme, have been confirmed as having RAAC and b) what the RAG rating attached to this RAAC is.

Under Section 25 of the Freedom of Information Scotland Act 2002 (FOISA), NHS National Services Scotland (NSS) are exempt from supplying the requested information, as this information is already publicly available on the Health Boards websites. Please find below the links to each website:

b) RAG ratings for RAAC found is as follows:

Please find attached Appendix 1 – RAG ratings for identified RAAC. This highlights the RAG ratings for the panels identified which contain RAAC.

Please note that RAG ratings are provided for individual panels, which have been identified as containing RAAC, as opposed to a building as a whole.

3. Please confirm whether any RAG ratings has been applied to the 97 buildings which have been confirmed to have completed the on-site survey stage phase of the Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete Survey Programme.

RAG ratings are provided for individual panels, which have been identified as containing RAAC, as opposed to a building as a whole. Information on results of the survey programme is publicly available on Health Boards individual websites (links above), please also refer to our response for question 2 b) above.

4. Where a RAG rating has been applied to any of those 97 buildings, please confirmed what remedial/monitoring recommendations have been given for those buildings.

Remedial solutions are currently being developed in conjunction with Health Boards. Monitoring recommendations are dependent on the outcome of surveys which are published on the individual board pages previously listed above and can also be found in response to question 2 b).

I trust you will find the information of assistance and if you require any further information, please do not hesitate to contact us.

If you are unhappy with any aspect of how we have dealt with your request, you can make representations to us asking us to review the handling of your request.

If you require any further information, please contact Head of Information and Cyber Security, Digital and Security within 40 working days of the date of this correspondence.

Contact

Address

NHS National Services Scotland
Headquarters
Gyle Square
1 South Gyle Crescent
Edinburgh
EH12 9EB

If after a review you are still unhappy, you also have the right to apply to the Scottish Information Commissioner, who can be contacted at Kinburn Castle, St Andrews, Fife, KY16 9DS, or via their application form.

National Services Scotland (NSS) is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. You can view all FOI responses within our FOI Publications repository.