Or partially shut. Its over Safety Concerns about what is known as raac a type of concrete, thats known to be at risk of crumbling. Meanwhile, in the last hour another twist with the Education Secretary caught on camera voicing herfrustrations about the media coverage. This is Gillian Keegan after an interview with itv news. Does anyone ever say, you have done a good job because everyone else has sat on their bleep and done nothing . No signs of that, no . The footage was captured by itv news as the Camera Repositioned for extra shots at the end of an interview with the minister, while she was still wearing her microphone. This was the prime ministers response to accusations of refusing to adequately fund School Repairs. Are you to blame for. Whats happening now . And do you want to apologize to parents and pupils . I think that is completely and utterly wrong. Actually, one of the first things i did as chancellor in my first Spending Review in 2020 was to announce a new Ten Year School rebuilding program for 500 schools. Now, that equates to about 50 schools a year that will be refurbished or rebuilt. And if you look at what weve been doing over the previous decade, thats completely in line with what weve always done. About 50 or so schools a year refurbished or rebuilt. Thats what i announced as chancellor in my first Spending Review. On top of that, i also invested £5 billion to help our kids catch up with lost learning from covid, the education recovery program. I think youll remember at the time that was rightly a priority of the country to help our kids whove been disrupted by covid, with extra tutoring, for example, to help them catch up. And that cost £5 billion, which i invested in as chancellor. Earlier, a former top Civil Servant at the Department For Education accused mr sunak and the uk treasury of refusing to fund School Repairs adequately, despite being warned that lives were at risk from crumbling concrete. Jonathan slater spoke on the bbc radios today programme. The Spending Review was completed a year after i left the department, and i was absolutely amazed to see that the decision made by the government was to halve the School Rebuilding programme, down from 100 a year to 50 a year. To be clear, then, in the department, you were saying we need to rebuild 3 to 400. It became 100 a year. And after you left the department, it went down to 50 a year . Yes. To be clear, we know whats needed 300 400. Theres only so much capacity in the construction industry. There is disruption if you close schools and rebuild them. So the actual ask in the Spending Review in 2021 was to double the 100 to 200. Thats what we thought was going to be practical. In the first instance, i thought wed get it, but the actual decision that the chancellor took in 21 was to halve the size of the program. Now, the chancellor, of course, was at the time . Rishi sunak. A little earlier, the leader of the Liberal Democrats was also asked about who shoulders the blame for the situation. Take a listen. Ed davey, schools are crumbling across the country. Whos to blame . Rishi sunak. He was chancellor and he decided to give a big tax cut for the banks in the budget and Spending Plans when he should have been supporting our school buildings. I mean, this is an absolute outrage. The prime minister, the former chancellor, puts banks above our children. Live now to westminster and our Political Correspondent helen catt. Lets start with footage of the Education Secretary. Fuel being poured onto a political headache for the government. It poured onto a political headache for the government. The government. It is, those comments the government. It is, those comments on the government. It is, those comments on the the government. It is, those comments on the education | the government. It is, those comments on the Education SectorGillian Keegan, very colourful and having an impact Education Sector. The National Education union have made comments about it and so have made comments about it and so have labour. They have called for her to apologise. Downing street has distanced itself from the comments pretty quickly and a source told me that those comments were wrong so it has been quite an Immediate Reaction to her saying that. She seems to imply that local councils were responsible for School Safety have not been doing enough so there has been quite a reaction to that but she is herself due to speak in the House Of Commons later on the bigger wider issue of concrete, raac, in schools, and the situation that we are currently in. Schools, and the situation that we are currently in. Reaction is coming in all the time are currently in. Reaction is coming in all the time and are currently in. Reaction is coming in all the time and i are currently in. Reaction is coming in all the time and i want are currently in. Reaction is coming in all the time and i want to are currently in. Reaction is coming in all the time and i want to put in all the time and i want to put onto the screen is something that craig oliver, the former Downing Street director of communications for david cameron, posted a short while ago. I suppose it is the last part of what he has tweeted which is most relevant. Do you think this has the potential for lasting damage . Number ten have already potential for lasting damage . Number ten have already moved potential for lasting damage . Number ten have already moved to potential for lasting damage . Number ten have already moved to do potential for lasting damage . Number ten have already moved to do is ten have already moved to do is distin themselves to distance themselves although we have not had a rebuke at this stage. We will wait to see what might come from this and what we might hear from to see what might come from this and what we might hearfrom either them or her at a later stage this afternoon. In terms of lasting damage, these moments get a lot of attention, these hot mic moments as they are known, and they cause a distraction, but this is a thorny problem in any case. This is already dominating the news because at the moment it is difficult to see when this ends. The government is still carrying out surveys to find out the extent of the problem of this in schools so we dont yet have the definitive list, it has not been published anyway, of the schools affected by this. That is something labour is calling for, the Education Secretary to publish quickly, she says she will do but not at this stage. And then questions about whether extends beyond schools and the bbc learned that the government has asked for Court Buildings to be looked at, which were built in the 90s, they have already looked at the safety of Court Buildings but not ones which were built in the 90s because they thought they were ok so there is now questions about whether there is now questions about whether there is now questions about whether there is more in scope. It is difficult to see where it ends for the government. Difficult to see where it ends for the government. Difficult to see where it ends for the covernment. ,. , ~ the government. Rishi sunak said the criticism of him the government. Rishi sunak said the criticism of him was the government. Rishi sunak said the criticism of him was unfair the government. Rishi sunak said the criticism of him was unfair and the government. Rishi sunak said the criticism of him was unfair and he criticism of him was unfair and he said he sanctioned the rebuilding a 50 schools per year which was in line with what had happened the decade before, but the difficulty with the reasoning is that he has underlining that there was no step change between what he did and what happened the decade before and yet in between there was the warning of a threat to life . That in between there was the warning of a threat to life . A threat to life . That is what labour has a threat to life . That is what labour has said, a threat to life . That is what labour has said, they a threat to life . That is what labour has said, they see i a threat to life . That is what. Labour has said, they see this a threat to life . That is what labour has said, they see this as an admission by the government they knew about the problem but did not do enough to address it, and Gillian Keegan suggested this morning that she had stepped it up in the last few weeks and that was partly where this had come from, that because there was a beam which had been deemed to be nonurgent and not unsafe, that then collapse, that she has taken a more strict view if you like and host her department has moved quickly, so there is a framing of the issue, that the government knew about the problem for some time, and the wider question we are looking at is, did they do enough to tackle it . , looking at is, did they do enough to tackle it . ~ , tackle it . Helen, at westminster, Thanks Forjoining tackle it . Helen, at westminster, Thanks Forjoining us. Live now to our correspondent ellie price whos outside a school in eltham, south east london. What is happening at the school gates . What is happening at the school ates . , what is happening at the school rates . ,. , what is happening at the school ates . ,. ,. Gates . The gates have been closed all da and gates . The gates have been closed all day and they gates . The gates have been closed all day and they were gates . The gates have been closed all day and they were never gates . The gates have been closed all day and they were never meant | gates . The gates have been closed l all day and they were never meant to be open today because it is a teacher training day but this is one of the 104 schools that have been affected so far by the raac concrete issue, and there is raac in the Main School Hall here the head teacher wrote to parents saying a survey had been done in the last summer term identifying this raac and they were told it was not an issue and itjust needed to be looked at by engineers fairly often, and then the Guidance Chains which meant the school hall could no longer be used. We understand the letter said that there is also the school gym and canteen and also the girls and boys toilets so the children return here on wednesday we will find they will need to go to the toilet in a blue portacabin and they will probably be a marquee on the grass outside which will act as a canteen and this gives a sense. We are hearing the bigger issues, but we see now what it means for children and parents and it is also worth mentioning that most of the children in any of the schools affected will know about it. This is where we are with it, the schools that have an issue have written to parents and in many cases that has led to partial closures but it means certain buildings are out of action. Thanks forjoining us. Breaking news from Northern Ireland. Simon bernard has resigned as the Chief Constable of the Northern IrelandPolice Service simon burn. These are some of the recent pictures of the Chief Constable in Northern Ireland so major news coming in that simon byrne has resigned. He was appointed in may 2019 as Chief Constable. Pressure has been mounting over him with calls for his resignation and a number of issues and the latest was last tuesday when a court ruled that two Junior Officers were unlawfully disciplined or an arrest made at a troubles Commemoration Event and before that in recent weeks we had the huge data breach which was so concerning with the details of Police Officers becoming public and huge amounts of questions and focus about just huge amounts of questions and focus aboutjust how huge amounts of questions and focus about just how that huge amounts of questions and focus aboutjust how that happened. There has been pressure on him for some time but this newsjust has been pressure on him for some time but this news just coming has been pressure on him for some time but this newsjust coming into us. Simon byrne has resigned as the Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland. You made a request to the Policing Board, the resignation was accepted, and the details are now coming in and the details are now coming in and we hear there will be a News Conference from the Policing Board in belfast shortly so we will keep an eye on this story. Chris is our correspondent in belfast and we will talk to him shortly. We will update you when we get more details. Around the world and across the uk. This is bbc news. Lets look at some other stories making news. A Bullying Complaint against former cabinet minister Gavin Williamson has been upheld by an expert panel in parliament. Mr williamson has been ordered to apologise to the commons. He quit as a Minister Last year after sending expletive laden texts to former Tory Chief Whip wendy morton that accused her of excluding some mps from the queens funeral. The parents of a teenager who died after failures in treating her sepsis are calling for patients to be given the right to an urgent second opinion, if they feel their concerns are not being taken seriously. Martha mills, who would have been 16 today, died two years ago. An inquest said she could have survived had her care been better. The metropolitan police say a 42 year old man has been arrested on suspicion of assault after sky sports pundit roy keane was allegedly headbutted following arsenals match against Manchester United on sunday. Footage of the incident was circulated on social media and appeared to show keane and fellow pundit Micah Richards involved in an altercation with an individual. Youre live with bbc news. The first Africa Climate summit is being held in kenya, to discuss how the continent can respond to threat of Climate Change. At least 23 African Heads Of State and government willjoin thousands of delegates, to discuss a problem which impacts the entire continent. Ethiopia, kenya and somalia recently endured their worst drought in decades with five consecutive failed rainy seasons. One of the deadliest storms to hit africa in the last two decades, Cyclone Freddy ripped through malawi, mozambique and madagascar in late february, killing over 1,000 people. And both west and Central Africa experienced one of the worst Flooding Disasters ever in 2022. More than 1,500 people were killed and 3. 2 million displaced. Live now to doctor susan chomba, director for vital landscapes for africa at the World Resources institute. Thanks forjoining us. How significant is this summit . It is absolutely significant is this summit . It 3 absolutely significant for africa and it is the first african Climate Summit with so many heads of state and so many countries participating and so many countries participating and it is important because this is and it is important because this is a summit where advocate sees itself as a leader in terms of defining not just what is good for africa and Climate Change but good for the rest of the world. The Climate Change but good for the rest of the world of the world. The organisers want to tilt the focus of the world. The organisers want to tilt the focus away of the world. The organisers want to tilt the focus away to of the world. The organisers want to tilt the focus away to climate tilt the focus away to climate investment, away from simply reacting to all of those threats and catastrophes i was just listening. Is that practical . Catastrophes i was ust listening. Is that practical . Is that practical . There is a lot that africa is that practical . There is a lot that africa has is that practical . There is a lot that africa has to is that practical . There is a lot that africa has to offer is that practical . There is a lot that africa has to offer in is that practical . There is a lot | that africa has to offer in terms is that practical . There is a lot. That africa has to offer in terms of the potential and we have the Fastest Growing population and we have rich minerals and we have fantastic Renewable Energy in terms of solar but also very huge land where people can grow food for the african popula