Recommendation 10

HM Government Acknowledged

The Government agrees that addressing Great Britain’s (GB) asbestos legacy – particularly in public buildings – remains a key issue, and that continuing to improve and build on the evidence base around safe management and disposal of asbestos is fundamental. The Government believes that GB currently has a mature and comprehensive plan to managing legacy asbestos risks that aligns with the best evidence currently available. This plan is reflected throughout the approaches outlined in the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012 (CAR) and the ‘duty to manage’ (‘the duty’) found in Regulation 4 of CAR. All those in control of non- domestic premises or those who have a contractual obligation (known throughout the legislation as ‘dutyholders’) have to put in place a nine-point system for the management of asbestos. The key steps include: • A written plan must be created and maintained which sets out the management arrangements for safe removal where necessary or protecting and then frequently rechecking conditions • Information on the location of asbestos containing materials (ACM) must be proactively passed by the dutyholder to any person liable to disturb it. • Regulation 7 (3) of CAR requires asbestos to be removed before refurbishment work and before demolition. If it’s in poor condition or in a vulnerable position it should be removed. There is an expectation of gradual removal. If refurbishment occurs without removal that is non-compliance. • The Approved Code of Practice on the regulations (L143) must also be complied with or other equally effective measures must be taken; CAR and the ACOP are a joint package giving detailed guidance and direction. They include air testing for employee’s exposure and reoccupation of cleaned spaces and other requirements on competence, health surveillance, records, work notification and plans of work. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) provided evidence to the committee that the correct implementation of CAR not only ensures management of risks of exposure but will eventually lead to the elimination of asbestos from the built environment without the need for a target deadline. The UK was the first country in Europe to create an explicit duty to manage asbestos in all non-domestic premises which came into effect in 2004 (Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations 2002 [CAR], Northern Ireland has equivalent provisions). This was driven by the need to reduce the risk to those most at risk of exposure - maintenance workers. There were several public consultations and the focus of the requirement was on protecting visiting or resident building maintenance workers and preventing them from accidentally disturbing asbestos without the correct precautions. The Government could only advocate a proactive course of action in this area if there is compelling evidence that the, undoubted, increase in exposure to asbestos workers that will result from active removal, possibly prematurely, is justified in terms of reducing risk of exposure to building users. At present this evidence is not there. Equally, many government departments in charge of public estates are already prioritising the removal of asbestos from their estates, where necessary, and HSE supports discussions on this important work. Notably, the Department for Education’s investment in school buildings (£1.8 billion for 2022–23) is partly prioritised on tackling schools where asbestos management is difficult, as is the Welsh Government’s Sustainable Communities for Learning Programme. The Department for Health and Social Care also sets out clear expectations across NHS trusts on how asbestos should be managed and removal planned. Importantly, departments collectively understand the need to ensure that where asbestos cannot be managed safely in situ, where it is in poor condition, that it must be removed. They use the framework within CAR to support their approach to tackling their asbestos legacy and managing the risk. The Government remains concerned that moving to a fixed deadline for removal would increase the opportunity for exposure which remains difficult to support if the current risk of exposure is very low where asbestos can be managed safely in situ until planned refurbishment works. The use of many public estates would also be significantly disrupted by a removal deadline if this were introduced outside existing estates strategies. There also remains a concern that introducing a deadline would stimulate poor removal and disposal practices with a further risk of increase in asbestos exposures. The Government agrees we need to understand more about the likely rate of elimination due to current levels of asbestos removal though planned refurbishment and demolition. National modelling carried out by the HSE as part of the forthcoming Post Implementation Review of CAR, whilst based on estimates, indicates that there will be a substantial reduction in the numbers of buildings containing asbestos over the next few decades. H