Fresh calls to remove asbestos in schools

The NEU, which has recently held its annual conference in Harrogate, has renewed calls for the government to remove asbestos in schools.

The union says the government should implement the findings of the 2022 Committee on Work and Pensions report on the HSE’s approach to asbestos management, which recommends the removal of asbestos from non-domestic buildings within 40 years and the early removal from the highest-risk settings including schools.

Commenting on the passing of motion 21 at the NEU annual conference, Daniel Kebede, general secretary of the National Education Union, said: "School building safety is of paramount importance, yet successive governments have paid lip service to it, especially where asbestos is concerned.

“The numbers of school staff and former pupils who have died from mesothelioma as a result of being exposed to asbestos at school continues to grow. Just like the tragedy of Grenfell, these deaths were avoidable had short termism and corner-cutting not been the order of the day.

"The Office of Government Property has calculated that, to maintain the school estate in line with best practice, the Government should be spending at least £7bn a year. The NEU calls on the Government to invest in our schools and to upgrade school buildings by bringing the total yearly spend up to this amount.

“The NEU also calls upon the government to implement the findings of the 2022 Committee on Work and Pensions report on the HSE’s approach to asbestos management. We must learn the lessons of Grenfell and other deaths as a result of political choices to underfund, ignore and delay. Its recommendations included the removal of asbestos from non-domestic buildings within 40 years and the early removal from the highest-risk settings including schools.”