Education secretary defends holidaying in Spain as concrete crisis unfolded

Gillian Keegan said she has ‘always worked remotely’

Education secretary Gillian Keegan has defended holidaying with family in Spain as the crumbling concrete crisis hitting schools unfolded.

The Cabinet minister said on Monday she has “always worked remotely” and continued to chair a response team while on the continent for her father’s birthday.

Aides had conceded she was in Spain between 25 August and Thursday, when the closures at more than 100 schools were ordered.

The education secretary said on Monday she has “always worked remotely” (via REUTERS)

Her holiday emerged as Ms Keegan was under pressure after being caught on microphone suggesting “everyone else has sat on their arse and done nothing” as she tackled the crisis.

Ministers have said they were acting after receiving concerning new evidence about reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (Raac) over the summer.

Ms Keegan said the trip to Spain – where she reportedly owns property in Madrid and Marbella – was her first opportunity to go on holiday this summer after dealing with striking teachers, as well as GCSE and A-level results.

She told Sky’s Politics Hub: “I don’t expect anyone to feel sorry for me, I’m certainly not getting that vibe from you. But what I arranged was to go on holiday on that day for my dad’s birthday – it was a family occasion and we went.”

The minister said she chaired a response team from Spain “every day” despite the vacation.

She said she has “always worked remotely” throughout her career, in business before becoming an MP, and said she planned to come back if investigations raised concerns.

“I came back straight away – well actually I had to wait a day because of the air traffic control issue,” she added.

The complete or partial closures at 104 schools and colleges in England over Raac was announced with a press release on Thursday afternoon.

Ms Keegan, according to aides, was in her department overseeing the publication of the guidance that day before speaking to broadcasters in the evening.

A Department for Education spokesman said: “Throughout this summer the Education Secretary has been driving forward this government’s priorities, bringing an end to strike action in schools, announcing 15 new free schools and seven new Send (special educational needs and disabilities) schools, as well as overseeing the return to pre-pandemic grading for GCSE, A-level and VTQ results.

Remedial work being carried out at Mayflower Primary School in Leicester, affected by RAAC (PA)

“The Education secretary took the cautious and proactive decision to change guidance on Raac and this week has chaired daily operational calls with ministers and senior officials in the department and virtually.”

In a follow-up interview Ms Keegan apologised for her “choice language” and said it was an “off-the-cuff remark”.

The minister’s comments came at the conclusion of an interview with ITV’s Daniel Hewitt in which she said he had been “pressing me quite hard” and claimed he was “making out it was all my fault”.

In her apology, the Education Secretary refused to say who she believed was “sat on their arse”.

Ms Keegan said: “I wasn’t really talking about anyone in particular. It was an off-the-cuff remark after the news interview had finished, or apparently after it had finished.

A taped off section inside Parks Primary School in Leicester (Jacob King/PA) (PA Wire)

“I would like to apologise for my choice language, that was unnecessary.”

She indicated she was frustrated with those who have not responded to questionnaires asking about whether schools have the dangerous aerated concrete present.

In her follow-up interview, Ms Keegan said: “It is frustrating because we’re doing everything now to take a leading position to be on the front foot, to put all the support in place that responsible bodies and schools need.

“It’s also frustrating that we’ve got some questionnaires that still are not there, we’ve been chasing and chasing them, we’ve written again today to say you need to get your questionnaires in by the end of the week.”

Pressed on whether she was frustrated with councils, her predecessor as education secretary or prime minister Rishi Sunak, Ms Keegan said: “No it’s not, it’s nobody in particular.”

But taking aim at ITV’s award-winning Mr Hewitt, she said: “Actually it was the interviewer, because the interviewer was making out it was all my fault, and that’s what I was saying, do you ever go into these interviews where anyone ever says anything but ‘you’ve just done a terrible job’.”