This footage was filmed and produced 7 September 2023.

Education Secretary Gillian Keegan attended a meeting with MPs at Essex County Council’s headquarters in Chelmsford.

The under-pressure Ms Keegan also made a discreet visit to a school affected by crumble-prone concrete after hitting out at “sensationalists” who have asked questions about the crisis.

As thousands of pupils were ordered to stay at home, the Cabinet minister spoke to school leaders and local Conservative MPs in Essex, one of the areas worst hit by reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (Raac), on Thursday.

She visited the Anglo European School in Ingatestone, which is one of the schools with protective mitigations in place and temporary buildings installed, rather than one of those forced to close completely just as students prepared to return for the new school year.

Ms Keegan ordered more than 100 schools and colleges to make either full or partial closures last week after she received new evidence over the concrete’s collapse risk.