To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate his Department has made of the (a) number and (b) proportion of schools in England that contain asbestos in their buildings and premises.

In February 2017, the Department published information based on a data collection that ran between 29 January and 31 March 2016. Of the 5,592 (25.2%) state-funded schools in England which participated, 4,646 (83.1%) reported that asbestos was present in their buildings.

The Department’s current asbestos data collection (Asbestos Management Assurance Process) will close on 15 February 2019 and updated information will be available in spring 2019.

Advice from the Health and Safety Executive is that if asbestos is unlikely to be damaged or disturbed, then it is best managed in situ.