HC Deb 17 December 2003 vol 415 cc914-5W
7. Mr. Clapham

To ask the Secretary of State, Department for International Development, what plans he has to ban the use of(a) asbestos and (b) materials containing it in projects supported by his Department.[144412]

Mr. Gareth Thomas

Information as follows.

  1. 1. My Department have had in place a policy for nonuse of asbestos in the UK for over four years.
  2. 2. We have undertaken major refurbishment of both our UK offices during this period and the contracts have explicitly banned the use of any asbestos materials. During the refurbishment works we were able to remove (under controlled conditions) all materials containing asbestos and we are now confident that our UK offices are asbestos free.
  3. 3. Where DFID directly engages in building activities overseas, strict measures are taken in dealing with existing materials containing asbestos; and no new construction contains asbestos products.

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