Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much capital expenditure has been incurred by his Department for removing asbestos from school buildings in each financial year since 2010.

Schools and those responsible for school buildings receive annual condition funding for maintaining and improving buildings, including removing or encapsulating asbestos when it is the safest course of action to do so. This funding is delivered through different routes depending on their size and type. Local authorities and larger multi academy trusts receive a school condition allocation and it is for them to prioritise investment across the schools for which they are responsible. Smaller, or stand-alone academy trusts and sixth form colleges have access to the Condition Improvement Fund.

The Department for Education has responsibility for England and has distributed over £11 billion in condition funding nationally from 2011-12 to 2018-19, an average of £1.4 billion a year. In addition, the Priority School Building Programme is rebuilding or refurbishing school buildings in the worst condition across England, covering over 500 schools. Asbestos was a factor when selecting buildings for the programme.

Expert advice from the Health and Safety Executive is clear that as long as asbestos-containing materials are undamaged, and not in locations where they are vulnerable to damage, they are best managed in situ. The Department is clear that when asbestos cannot be effectively managed in situ, it should be removed or encapsulated – and the Department provides significant condition funding which can be used for this purpose.