§ Malcolm BruceTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the buildings occupied by his departmental and agency staff which require(a) remedial work on and (b) removal of asbestos; what this work will cost; what budgets are available for this work for (i) 2004 and (ii) 2005; and what budget is available for future asbestos surveys. [159653]
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§ Mr. HuttonThe presence of asbestos is recorded in the following buildings occupied by the Department of Health, its agencies and non-departmental public bodies, where the Department has responsibility for the building or building fabric. Plans have been established for both removal and remedial works. The estimated costs of such works are shown in the table.
Building Estimated cost (£) Wellington House, London SE1 8UG 16,500 Eileen House, London SE1 6EF 9,500 Market Towers, London SW8 5NQ 650,000 Costs of removal are provided by the overall maintenance budgets for the Department of Health Estate for 2003–04 and 2004–05.
§ Malcolm BruceTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the(a) hospitals and (b) other NHS properties which have been identified as containing asbestos; what proportion of (i) hospitals and (ii) other NHS properties have been surveyed for the purpose of identifying the presence of asbestos; which (A) hospitals and (B) other NHS properties require (1) remedial work on (2) removal of asbestos; what that work will cost; what budgets are available for this work for 2004 and 2005; and what budget is available for future asbestos surveys.[159655]
§ Mr. HuttonData are not currently collected on the number of hospitals and national health service properties that contain asbestos. Trusts should pay for all works out of their own maintenance budgets. A consultative document, published by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) in November 2001, suggested that costs relating to the control of asbestos are not major. More recently, the HSE has advised that, where possible, asbestos should be made safe rather than removed from buildings.
Trusts have a duty of care to manage asbestos under The Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations 2003 and they must record the location and condition of asbestos.
§ Malcolm BruceTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of buildings occupied by(a) departmental staff and (b) staff of the Department"s executive agencies have been surveyed for the purpose of identifying the presence of asbestos prior to the implementation of the Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations 2002. [159661]
§ Mr. HuttonThe Department has had recent surveys undertaken in all its buildings, with the exception of one building where formal discussions with the landlord have proven that asbestos is not present.