Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the possibility of local asbestos contamination as a result of the fire at Grenfell Tower.

Safety officers working with the emergency services currently on site have tested the air within Grenfell Tower for asbestos and have not detected any levels of concern. When work commences to clear the site there will be a system of engineering work that will prevent any asbestos being released from the site and a programme of regular environmental air monitoring conducted to minimise the risk to local residents and contractors. Public Health England is monitoring air quality around the site and to date has not detected any asbestos in the environment. The results of the monitoring tests are available on the PHE website along with a health explanation at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/628925/Environmental_monitoring_following_the_Grenfell_Tower_fire.pdf