Asked by: Imran Hussain (Labour - Bradford East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he plans to introduce (a) legislation or (b) regulations to protect workers from asbestos exposure.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
In Great Britain the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012 (CAR) are in place to protect workers from asbestos exposure. These regulations require dutyholders to assess whether asbestos is present in their buildings, the condition it is in and to draw up a plan to manage the risk associated with asbestos including removal if it cannot be safely managed in place.
Dutyholders must not undertake any work to remove, or that is liable to disturb, asbestos unless they have assessed the presence and condition of any Asbestos Containing Material (ACM), identified the risks of exposure to asbestos and prepared a written plan of work detailing the activity and controls to protect workers.
Anyone liable to disturb asbestos during their work must have received the correct level of information, instruction, and training to enable them to carry out their work safely, competently and without risk to themselves or others. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) does not have any plans to introduce additional training for dutyholders.
The Second Post Implementation Review (PIR) for CAR found that the regulations are achieving their intended objectives and it is not necessary to amend them or introduce any additional legislation.
For work with ACM’s which is considered high risk HSE operates a licensing regime to ensure that those carrying out such work demonstrate that they are competent and have current knowledge to protect the health & safety of everyone involved with and affected by the work.
HSE are actively engaging with duty holders and other stakeholders to raise awareness of the legal requirements and ensure standards and competence are maintained.
Asked by: Imran Hussain (Labour - Bradford East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many licenses have been revoked by the Health and Safety Executive’s Asbestos Licensing Unit in each year since 2010.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) uses a range of regulatory approaches to ensure compliance with licensing. Licenses are revoked in the most serious cases, but licences can also be refused at re-application; additional conditions added; or additional inspections carried out to more closely monitor a licensee.
The statistics for asbestos licences revoked each year from 2010 are as follows:
Year* | Number of revocations |
2010 - 2011 | 2 |
2011 - 2012 | 0 |
2012 - 2013 | 1 |
2013 - 2014 | 1 |
2014 - 2015 | 0 |
2015 - 2016 | 0 |
2016 - 2017 | 0 |
2017 - 2018 | 0 |
2018 - 2019 | 1 |
2019 - 2020 | 0 |
2020 - 2021 | 0 |
2021 - 2022 | 0 |
2022 - 2023 | 1 |
Asked by: Imran Hussain (Labour - Bradford East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill, what representations he has received from external organisations on the potential merits of retaining the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has not received any specific representations from external organisations on the potential merits of retaining the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012, however they have been mentioned as a set of regulations that should be retained in several pieces of correspondence and parliamentary questions.
Officials from HSE are actively engaging with a wide range of stakeholders as part of their day-to-day business, covering many matters. HSE has good working knowledge to inform any decisions they need to make in relation to their approach with the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill (REUL Bill). If required, HSE has various established channels of communication with stakeholders to obtain supplementary information.
HSE has discussed and agreed its plans for retained EU Law (REUL) with DWP Ministers. An amendment was tabled on 10 May 2023 to replace the current sunset clause in the REUL Bill with a schedule of all the REUL that government departments intend to revoke by the end of 2023. The schedule includes REUL identified for revocation by HSE and any remaining REUL will be retained including the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012. This is subject to the amendment being passed.
Asked by: Imran Hussain (Labour - Bradford East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill, what discussions he has had with the Health and Safety Executive on the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has not received any specific representations from external organisations on the potential merits of retaining the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012, however they have been mentioned as a set of regulations that should be retained in several pieces of correspondence and parliamentary questions.
Officials from HSE are actively engaging with a wide range of stakeholders as part of their day-to-day business, covering many matters. HSE has good working knowledge to inform any decisions they need to make in relation to their approach with the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill (REUL Bill). If required, HSE has various established channels of communication with stakeholders to obtain supplementary information.
HSE has discussed and agreed its plans for retained EU Law (REUL) with DWP Ministers. An amendment was tabled on 10 May 2023 to replace the current sunset clause in the REUL Bill with a schedule of all the REUL that government departments intend to revoke by the end of 2023. The schedule includes REUL identified for revocation by HSE and any remaining REUL will be retained including the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012. This is subject to the amendment being passed.
Asked by: Imran Hussain (Labour - Bradford East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will provide details of the civil servants affected by the closure of the Department site on Leeds Road, Bradford by (a) age, (b) race, (c) gender and (d) disability.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
As part of the Department’s plans to reshape how, when and where the Department works, (resulting in a smaller, greener and better estate); we plan to relocate all 198 colleagues and our services from Bradford East, Leeds Road to Bradford, Ambler Mill which is approximately 1.5 miles away by 14 October 2022.
While it is anticipated that, due to the close proximity of the offices, colleagues will be able to move to Bradford Amber Mill, for those colleagues who are unable to move because of their individual circumstances, redeployment will be the priority.
DWP is making every effort to fully support colleagues through this process. As a responsible employer, the Department will make provision for redundancies as necessary. However, this will be a last resort after all efforts to retain, retrain and redeploy colleagues, either within DWP or other Government Departments in the area, have been exhausted.
The Department is fully compliant in its duties under section 149 of the Equality Act 2010. To understand the potential impact of changes to our estate, both for DWP employees and people using its services, Equality Analyses have been carried out wherever our plans are to close an office or relocate colleagues. The findings have been used to understand the potential impact of changes to our estate on people. The initial assessment is based on self-declared data provided by employees and held on the Department’s HR data system. It is only once the one-to-one process is complete that we will have the full detail of the impact on individuals and be able to consider appropriate solutions for colleagues.
Asked by: Imran Hussain (Labour - Bradford East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the number of jobs that will be affected by the closure of the Department for Work and Pensions site on Leeds Road, Bradford.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
As part of the Department’s plans to reshape how, when and where the Department works, (resulting in a smaller, greener and better estate); we plan to relocate all 198 colleagues and our services from Bradford East, Leeds Road to Bradford, Ambler Mill which is approximately 1.5 miles away by 14 October 2022.
While it is anticipated that, due to the close proximity of the offices, colleagues will be able to move to Bradford Amber Mill, for those colleagues who are unable to move because of their individual circumstances, redeployment will be the priority.
DWP is making every effort to fully support colleagues through this process. As a responsible employer, the Department will make provision for redundancies as necessary. However, this will be a last resort after all efforts to retain, retrain and redeploy colleagues, either within DWP or other Government Departments in the area, have been exhausted.
The Department is fully compliant in its duties under section 149 of the Equality Act 2010. To understand the potential impact of changes to our estate, both for DWP employees and people using its services, Equality Analyses have been carried out wherever our plans are to close an office or relocate colleagues. The findings have been used to understand the potential impact of changes to our estate on people. The initial assessment is based on self-declared data provided by employees and held on the Department’s HR data system. It is only once the one-to-one process is complete that we will have the full detail of the impact on individuals and be able to consider appropriate solutions for colleagues.
Asked by: Imran Hussain (Labour - Bradford East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether compulsory redundancies will result from the closure of the Department site on Leeds Road, Bradford.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
As part of the Department’s plans to reshape how, when and where the Department works, (resulting in a smaller, greener and better estate); we plan to relocate all 198 colleagues and our services from Bradford East, Leeds Road to Bradford, Ambler Mill which is approximately 1.5 miles away by 14 October 2022.
While it is anticipated that, due to the close proximity of the offices, colleagues will be able to move to Bradford Amber Mill, for those colleagues who are unable to move because of their individual circumstances, redeployment will be the priority.
DWP is making every effort to fully support colleagues through this process. As a responsible employer, the Department will make provision for redundancies as necessary. However, this will be a last resort after all efforts to retain, retrain and redeploy colleagues, either within DWP or other Government Departments in the area, have been exhausted.
The Department is fully compliant in its duties under section 149 of the Equality Act 2010. To understand the potential impact of changes to our estate, both for DWP employees and people using its services, Equality Analyses have been carried out wherever our plans are to close an office or relocate colleagues. The findings have been used to understand the potential impact of changes to our estate on people. The initial assessment is based on self-declared data provided by employees and held on the Department’s HR data system. It is only once the one-to-one process is complete that we will have the full detail of the impact on individuals and be able to consider appropriate solutions for colleagues.
Asked by: Imran Hussain (Labour - Bradford East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, on what date the Department for Work and Pensions' site on Leeds Road, Bradford will close.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
As part of the Department’s plans to reshape how, when and where the Department works, (resulting in a smaller, greener and better estate); we plan to relocate all 198 colleagues and our services from Bradford East, Leeds Road to Bradford, Ambler Mill which is approximately 1.5 miles away by 14 October 2022.
While it is anticipated that, due to the close proximity of the offices, colleagues will be able to move to Bradford Amber Mill, for those colleagues who are unable to move because of their individual circumstances, redeployment will be the priority.
DWP is making every effort to fully support colleagues through this process. As a responsible employer, the Department will make provision for redundancies as necessary. However, this will be a last resort after all efforts to retain, retrain and redeploy colleagues, either within DWP or other Government Departments in the area, have been exhausted.
The Department is fully compliant in its duties under section 149 of the Equality Act 2010. To understand the potential impact of changes to our estate, both for DWP employees and people using its services, Equality Analyses have been carried out wherever our plans are to close an office or relocate colleagues. The findings have been used to understand the potential impact of changes to our estate on people. The initial assessment is based on self-declared data provided by employees and held on the Department’s HR data system. It is only once the one-to-one process is complete that we will have the full detail of the impact on individuals and be able to consider appropriate solutions for colleagues.