To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she plans to take reduce the number of (a) schools, (b) hospitals and (c) other buildings containing asbestos.

It is the responsibility of those who run schools and who work with their schools day to day to manage the safety and maintenance of their buildings. This includes academy trusts, Local Authorities and voluntary aided school bodies. The Department provides support on a case by case basis if it is alerted to a serious safety issue which responsible bodies cannot manage independently.

The Department takes the issue of asbestos in schools seriously, and is committed to supporting schools, Local Authorities, and academy trusts to fulfil their duty to manage asbestos safely. Well maintained, safe school buildings are a priority for the Government. That is why the Department has allocated over £15 billion for improving school buildings since 2015, including £1.8 billion committed for the 2023/24 financial year. On top of this we are also transforming 500 schools over the next decade through our School Rebuilding Programme. To date the Department has announced 400 schools, with 100 more to come. The Department prioritises schools based on their condition need.

The Department provides detailed guidance for responsible bodies in line with expert advice from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). The HSE are clear that asbestos-containing materials that are in good condition, well protected either by their position or physical protection, should not usually be worked on, as it is usually safer to manage them in place.

Hospitals are the responsibility of the Department of Health and Social Care. They state that while much of the NHS estate dates from a time when asbestos was widely used, asbestos is considered safe if it is undisturbed. When building or other work is carried out which would disturb any asbestos, experts are brought in to safely dispose of it. NHS England continues to work with trusts to ensure their estates are a safe environment for patients and staff.

NHS organisations manage their asbestos locally in line with legislation and regulation. Where appropriate, it will be removed. Where work is undertaken on NHS facilities, including new build and refurbishment, the removal and disposal of asbestos will be considered.

NHS trusts have duties under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012. They are committed to the effective management of asbestos containing materials. Responsibilities to contractors and others involved in building and maintenance projects are established through the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 and its duties as the ‘Duty Holder’ of Trust owned buildings as defined by Regulation 4 of the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012.

Unlike other estates areas of risk, such as, medical gases, there is no NHS specific risk from asbestos. Specific guidance to the NHS is not provided as that from other sources, e.g., HSE, applies without amendment. Where judged safe, asbestos does not need to be removed. Where removal is required, this is a specialist responsibility normally carried out by specialist consultants. The NHS Premises Assurance Model includes a section on managing asbestos in the ‘hard facilities management safety’ section.

All public bodies, including Local Authorities, are responsible for how they manage asbestos in their buildings and are expected to comply with relevant legal requirements. The HSE publishes a range of guidance about working with asbestos and how to comply with relevant legislation. This requires duty holders to assess whether asbestos is present, what condition it is in, and whether it gives rise to a risk of exposure, which is set out under the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012. Further guidance is available at: https://www.hse.gov.uk/asbestos/index.htm.

Plans to manage the risk associated with asbestos must include removal of the asbestos if it cannot be safely managed where it is located. Removal of asbestos from buildings is already happening across Great Britain through planned refurbishment and demolition with, on average, around 35,000 removals taking place each year. The Government could only advocate a more proactive course of action in this area if there was compelling evidence that the increase in exposure to asbestos workers is justified, in terms of reducing the possible risk to building users.