SCHOOLS which still have serious issues with crumbling concrete will be prioritised if Labour wins the general election.

Deputy leader Angela Rayner said during a visit to Essex on Monday that children being taught in cabins and temporary classrooms “is totally unacceptable”.

Collapse-prone reinforced aerated autoclaved concrete (Raac) forced the closure of more schools in Essex than anywhere else in the country in September last year.

The Government included 46 schools across Essex in its school rebuilding programme which it announced earlier this year, but with a general election looming, plans could change if Labour wins the keys to No 10.

Mrs Rayner failed to confirm whether her party would stick with the Tories’ rebuilding programme, instead saying schools would be prioritised depending on how much money is available.

She said: “The last Labour government brought Building Schools for the Future, and we delivered a building schools programme.

"The next Labour government will do the same. We have to make sure that children have a safe learning environment.”

She added the party would prioritise fixing schools where there are unsafe classrooms or where children are being taught in temporary classrooms.

“They will obviously be a priority because we can’t have a situation where children are not being taught in safe environments or in temporary cabins for years on end,” she added.

Conservative MP Sir Bernard Jenkin, who is defending his Harwich and North Essex seat, said: “Schools want certainty and if Labour doesn’t have a plan to fix and rebuild these schools then schools will be back into delay and uncertainty.”