Removing asbestos from schools, council flats and other public buildings in Bristol is “too expensive” according to City Hall chiefs. It’s unclear how many buildings owned by Bristol City Council still have asbestos despite repeated questions put to the council.
Across the country thousands of public buildings still have asbestos, according to experts from workplace illness lawyers Irwin Mitchell. But the council did not respond to a freedom of information request sent by the law firm asking for details of affected buildings in Bristol.
Health and safety bosses at the council have now said in many cases “it’s better to manage” asbestos in buildings, like schools and council flats, rather than remove it. Councillors pressed for answers at the human resources committee on Thursday, February 16.
Read more: Bristol council fails to disclose number of public buildings with asbestos
Conservative Councillor Lesley Alexander said: “How much of a problem is asbestos in our council homes, buildings and schools?”
According to Christina Czarkowski-Crouch, head of safety, health and wellbeing, every affected building has had an asbestos survey and management plan. The council is now supporting local managers and caretakers more than previously, in checking the asbestos is safe and not becoming exposed to people inside buildings.
She said: “We have new systems in place. Before, we would give them the survey and the plan, and then head teachers were told ‘go and get on with it’, but now we’ve upped that support.
“We’re working with building surveyors and our health and safety team to go in, and show them what they need to do. One of the ways we’re doing it now is to make a check and take a photograph. We’ve agreed that approach with the Health and Safety Executive, and they’re really comfortable with that.
“We have still got asbestos, but we believe the asbestos is managed. We haven’t had any asbestos breaches for about eight months now. Where we tend to get them is in housing, rather than in schools or our corporate buildings.”
Irwin Mitchell, the law firm, sent freedom of information requests to 20 local authorities. 18 responded, revealing that more than 4,500 public buildings still contain asbestos. And experts believe there could be as many as 87,000 public buildings across the country, including schools, libraries and community centres.
The numbers of affected buildings in Bristol have not been made publicly available. Green Cllr Lorraine Francis, chair of the human resources committee, asked: “Do we know how many?”
Ms Czarkowski-Crouch replied: “We do, but I’ll come back to you and let you know. I need to go through the surveys. Every building has a survey so we’ve got that on a database.
"The cost of removing asbestos is so expensive. In some places we have removed it, and when we get an opportunity to remove it during a refurbishment, we will do that. But in places where there’s not a refurbishment, just to go and remove it is so costly. We just need to manage it.”
