Thousands of council buildings still contain asbestos

摘要

A survey carried out by the Labour Research Department (LRD) has revealed that councils in England are responsible for significant numbers of premises that still contain asbestos. The TUC and the all-party parliamentary group on occupational safety and health (OSH) commissioned the LRD to gather information on the extent and types of asbestos that are present in council premises in England. The LRD sent freedom of information (Fol) requests to a weighted sample of 42 county, metropolitan, London, unitary and district authorities. A total of 37 authorities replied between July and October 2021 with "a substantive response, either a reasonably full or more partial one, or by saying they were unable to respond, or refusing to respond (giving their reasons)". The LRD's analysis identified 2,690 premises that contained asbestos (excluding schools and houses) in the 31 councils that "were willing or able to identify asbestos-containing premises or say how many they have". Only one local authority - Chorley Council - had removed asbestos from all its premises. Although some of the councils' buildings were closed, empty or unused, many premises with asbestos were accessible to the public, including buildings in parks and open spaces and leisure centres.