§ Malcolm BruceTo ask the Deputy Prime Minister what proportion of buildings occupied by(a) staff of the Department and (b) staff of the Department's 342W executive agencies have been surveyed for the purpose of identifying the presence of asbestos prior to implementation of the control of Asbestos at Work Regulations 2002. [159372]
§ Yvette CooperThe proportion of buildings of the Deputy Prime Minister surveyed for the purpose of identifying the presence of asbestos are:
- (a) Seven of the 11 buildings occupied by ODPM staff
- (b) 77 of the 96 buildings occupied by staff of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's executive agencies and Government offices.
Although the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has overall responsibility for the buildings occupied by Government Offices, they carry out functions on behalf of 10 Departments.
Not all buildings are required to be surveyed as the use of asbestos in buildings has been prohibited since 1992. The Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations 2002 do not require surveys in such cases.
Some of the surveys noted above are not yet complete in that the final reports are still awaited. However all asbestos surveys in the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister occupancies required by the Regulations will have been completed by 21 May 2004.