Schools: Asbestos

(asked on 25th February 2019) - View Source

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what support he is providing to schools that require additional resources to remove asbestos from their premises.


Answered by
Nick Gibb Portrait
Nick Gibb
This question was answered on 5th March 2019

Since 2015, the Department has allocated £6 billion to those responsible for school buildings and for essential maintenance and improvements, including removing or encapsulating asbestos when it is the safest course of action to do so. In addition, through the Priority School Building Programme, the Department is rebuilding or refurbishing buildings in the worst condition in over 500 schools across the country. Asbestos was a factor in selecting buildings for the programme.

Advice from the Health and Safety Executive is clear that if asbestos is unlikely to be damaged or disturbed, then it is best managed in situ. Although, the Department is also clear that when asbestos does pose a risk to safety and cannot be effectively managed in situ, then it should be removed. Schools and those responsible for school buildings receive building condition funding through different routes depending on their size and type and this should be used to address asbestos issues if materials cannot be safely managed in situ.

The Department published ‘Asbestos Management in Schools’ guidance in February 2017 to help local authorities, governing bodies and academy trusts to meet their legal duties and manage asbestos effectively. The Department also launched the Asbestos Management Assurance Process in March 2018 to help develop a more comprehensive understanding of asbestos management in the school estate.

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