Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2014-04-02.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the report, Asbestos in Schools, published by the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Occupational Safety and Health; what assessment they have made of the view of the Committee on Carcinogenicity of the vulnerability of children to asbestos; what recent figures they have for the incidence of asbestos-related diseases in children and teachers; and when they intend to publish their response to the evidence submitted to their review of policy on asbestos management in schools.

Lord Nash

The Department for Education is currently reviewing its policy on asbestos management in schools and intends to publish the outcome of the review by the end of June.

The scope of the review includes the conclusions of the Committee on Carcinogenicity’s statement on the relative vulnerability of children and the recommendations from the report “Asbestos in schools: the need for action” produced by the All Party Parliamentary Group on Occupational Safety and Health. The Health and Safety Executive publishes figures on asbestos related deaths – including occupational information – on its website. We do not know of any figures detailing the incidence of asbestos related diseases in children.