Parents across the North East have been left bewildered by the announcement that 11 schools in the region contain potentially crumbling concrete.

The Department of Education made an announcement last Friday (September 1) that more than 100 schools across the country could be closed because of unsafe concrete.

Made just days before the start of the new school year the announcement has left many parents and MPs questioning why the surveys for reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) were not done at the start of the summer holidays.

It is still unclear exactly how many schools might be in the region as some have not returned the government questionnaire asking about RAAC.

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Here is the full timeline of events as they have unfolded:

There have been a range of responses to the crisis from Rishi Sunak's denial that he was to blame to frustration from MPs about how information has been released.

Yesterday the Prime Minister told broadcasters that he was not to blame for the concrete crisis.

Mr Sunak said: "Actually one of the first things I did as chancellor, in my first spending review in 2020, was to announce a new 10-year school re-building programme for 500 schools.

"Now that equates to about 50 schools a year, that will be refurbished or rebuilt.

"If you look at what we have been doing over the previous decade, that’s entirely in line with what we have always done.

"The Chancellor has been crystal clear that schools will be given extra money for these mitigations. It won’t come from their existing school budgets.

"In our expectation, 95% of schools won’t be impacted by this."

One anonymous parent said: "Students have already had unprecedented disruption to their education through the pandemic, but while that was completely unforeseen, the Department of Education has known about the issues with RAAC since 1994. 

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"This latest disruption was entirely avoidable.

Has your child's school been affected? Find out on our interactive map here.

"When you consider that the school was partially rebuilt in 2010, then you have to question why they didn't carry out the remedial works on the remaining buildings there and then. Instead, the government have finally intervened and made the correct call, albeit years too late.

"To know that our daughter has been going to school in a building that could have been structurally compromised or could collapse at any given moment, built with materials that are now two decades past their intended lifespan, is terrifying."