Recommendation 20

The Department launched the Asbestos Management Assurance Process (AMAP) in March 2018 to better understand how well asbestos is managed across all schools.51 When we examined academy schools’ finances in March 2018, we were concerned that the Department did not have enough information about the extent of asbestos in schools to ensure that the risks were being properly managed. We recommended that the Department should publish the results of its exercise to collect data on asbestos.52 In its response, the Department agreed with our recommendation and confirmed that it would publish a report on the findings of its AMAP once it had analysed the results. It committed to reviewing the findings from the AMAP to determine what further action may be necessary to ensure asbestos was being effectively managed in the school estate.53 When we examined the academy sector accounts and performance in January 2019, we found that nearly a quarter of schools had still not provided the information that the Department needed to understand fully the extent of asbestos in school building and how the risks were being managed. We were not convinced that extending the condition survey deadline again would result in a higher response rate, or that the survey would provide the level of specific assurance needed about how asbestos was being managed.54