I am grateful to have secured this debate, because it is on an important and complex issue, and I believe that there is a common-sense way to deal with it. I am also pleased to see the Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, my hon. Friend Jonathan Shaw, in his place, because he has some knowledge about asbestos in relation to social housing, which is what the debate is about.

The debate centres on a report that was recently compiled for the Union of Construction, Allied Trades and Technicians by two ladies, Linda Waldman and Heather Williams, who have brought to the attention of UCATT a number of important issues. I want to talk about three of them tonight. First, I want to draw to the Minister's attention the size of the problem. Secondly, I want to refer to the research in the paper, because it relates to a great deal of the current research and gives us an opportunity to consider the recommendations that have been made. Thirdly, I want to suggest to the Minister that he might think about taking some of the recommendations on board, as they would bring about the changes required without a prohibitive capital outlay.

The Minister will be aware that asbestos causes a range of diseases: asbestosis, pleural plaques, pleural thickening, lung cancer and mesothelioma. The latter two diseases are unrelated to dosage, and it is thought that just a small exposure can lead to mesothelioma. I want to bring his attention to a study done by the British Lung Foundation in January last year, which set out to explore how wide people's knowledge of the dangers of asbestos was. It commissioned a survey of 399 tradespeople in January 2008, and the respondents were made up of plumbers, builders, carpenters, electricians, joiners and gas fitters of varying ages. The results showed that a third of tradespeople admitted to not being well informed about asbestos, and three in 10 incorrectly believed that asbestos had now been removed from all UK buildings. There is great ignorance about asbestos. Last year, there were more than 2,000 mesothelioma deaths in the UK, which has led some to suggest that the UK has a mesothelioma epidemic.

The TUC argues that there are at least twice as many deaths from lung cancer caused by exposure to asbestos as there are mesothelioma deaths. Therefore, perhaps 6,000 to 8,000 deaths per year are caused by exposure to asbestos.