P-04-522 Asbestos in Schools –

Correspondence from Petitioner to Committee, 31.05.18

I have in effect commented upon the Cabinet Secretary’s letter with regard to the meeting of the 21^st May. I very much welcome the fact of the meeting and also the positive contribution of all who attended. It was a positive meeting and I am sure that it will be reflected in the Guidelines in due course. As you will be aware from the lengthy correspondence with the Petitions Committee, that I have been calling for such a meeting for over 2 years now. I have to complete my response to the consultation by the 6^th June and I will share this with the Committee as soon as I have done so.

With regard to the other aspect of the Cabinet Secretary’s letter,

“Asbestos management in schools responses in the school condition survey

My officials are awaiting final assurances from a few outstanding local authorities to confirm that the information they have provided is current and valid.

However, I am pleased to reconfirm that, thus far, all of the local authorities that have responded have verified that all of the schools in their estates with asbestos present have an asbestos management plan in place.

I am minded to make this high level information available and will make a decision as to the best way to do this once full assurance from all local authorities has been received.”

I note that full assurance from all local authorities would still appear to be awaited. At the meeting of the 21^st May there were general concerns raised about how the standard of surveys being relied upon and also how information was to be shared including to whom.

I hope that this is helpful and I shall await hearing from you further.

Kind regards

Cenric