Government urged to remove asbestos from all public buildings
The Work and Pensions Committee is calling for the government to commit to a strategy to remove all asbestos from commercial and public buildings, including schools, within 40 years.
The Committee's report highlights that an increase in retrofitting in response to net zero ambitions means that more asbestos-containing materials will be disturbed in coming decades. The Committee says that reliance on the current asbestos regulations will not be good enough. It concludes that a cross-government and ‘system-wide’ strategy for the long-term removal of asbestos is needed.
The report calls for the Government and Health and Safety Executive (HSE) to back up their stated goal of removing all asbestos by committing to a clear time frame and strategy. The plan should strengthen the evidence base on safe and effective asbestos removal in the first instance before prioritising removal from the highest risk settings, including schools.
The Government must also ensure adequate funding for HSE’s inspection and enforcement of the current asbestos regulations, which has declined in recent years.
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