Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps he is taking to ensure that local authorities are adequately equipped to tackle asbestos in public sector buildings.

All public bodies, including local authorities, are responsible for how they manage asbestos in their buildings and are expected to comply as dutyholders under the relevant legal requirements.

The Health and safety Executive - an executive arm of the Department for Work and Pensions - publishes a range of guidance about working with asbestos and how to comply with relevant legislation. This is set out under the Control of Asbestos Regulations (CAR) 2012 with further guidance available on HSE’s website HSE: Asbestos - health and safety in the workplace

The Local Government Finance Settlement for 2022/23 makes available up to £54.1 billion to councils. The majority of this funding is un-ringfenced in recognition of local authorities being best placed to understand local priorities.