Parents have been kept in the dark about asbestos risks for too long. We want every school in the UK to have to produce an annual report about the type and condition of any asbestos on the premises and share this with all parents and staff. Every child's potential exposure to asbestos at school must be recorded and shared with parents. This has been happening in the USA for the last 30 years.
AND
The Government must introduce and implement a policy for the phased removal of all asbestos from schools to be completed by 2028, starting with the most dangerous asbestos. MP's recommended this in 2012 but no action has been taken.
My Mum died on Sunday 26th June 2016 from mesothelioma, a cancer that comes from exposure to asbestos. It can lie dormant for a long time, meaning that victims are diagnosed with the illness 15 to 60 years after their exposure. Mum believes she was exposed to asbestos in the schools she taught in. Before she died I promised her that I will do my best to make sure no-one else has to suffer like she has.
The facts about asbestos in schools
• 86% of UK schools have asbestos in them, putting over 7 million pupils at risk. A survey in 2015 found that 44% of teachers have not been told if their school contains asbestos. This lack of awareness puts them and their pupils at risk of exposure.
• More than 224 school teachers in England have died of mesothelioma between 2003 and 2012. There is a similar pattern for school support and maintenance staff. Last year 22 teachers died, meaning the UK has the highest death rate in the world. Experts predict that the number of school related deaths in the UK will continue to rise.
• Children are particularly vulnerable to developing mesothelioma. A five year old child that is exposed is five times more likely to contract mesothelioma than someone exposed to asbestos in their 30s. It is reported that between 200 and 300 people die each year from exposure to asbestos as school children.
All of these deaths are completely preventable. We've known the dangers since the 1960s with legislation controlling its use since the mid-1980’s. 2 million asbestos fibres can fit on a pin head but mesothelioma can develop from ingesting only one or two fibres. There are no safe levels of exposure to asbestos.
Mum taught over 800 children and was a wonderful teacher and very committed to her work. Some of her ex-pupils recently wrote to her saying ‘you were the best reception teacher we could ever have wished for and you gave us the best grounding in education that anyone could ever have’. I’ve seen first hand the pain and suffering that mesothelioma causes.
I’ve lost my darling Mum to this terrible disease, as a parent I need to be sure that my school age daughter is not being put at risk simply by going to school. We can't let more of our children and teachers die from this entirely preventable disease. Rt Hon Gillian Keegan MP, Secretary of State for Education must prioritise the removal of all asbestos from all our schools.
My family will deliver this petition in person to the Minister of Education.
Parents in Plymouth had to raise concerns about their children being exposed to asbestos while at school. Issues were raised as far back as October 2017 but it is only now that they have received reassurances. It's vital that we have transparency and accountability about asbestos in our schools. https://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/news/plymouth-news/asbestos-found-during-investigation-primary-2971660#comments-section
100,000 signatures reached
The Mirror has recently covered the issue of asbestos in schools highlighting recent data that shows over 200 teachers have died from mesothelioma in the last 10 years.
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/more-200-teachers-die-asbestos-15001788
Jim Cunningham MP recently asked the Department for Education ‘the number of UK schools that undertook (a) the partial removal of asbestos and (b) the total removal of asbestos from school buildings in each year since 2010’. It’s really not acceptable that the Department hasn’t kept track of this. You can see the full response here
https://www.theyworkforyou.com/wrans/?id=2019-02-26.226030.h&s=asbestos#g226030.r0
On Monday (4th March) MP’s responded to a petition about the school funding crisis. Asbestos was briefly mentioned during the debate. Sadly in responding to the debate the Department for Education didn’t make any commitments on asbestos. You can see the Mp’s contributions below.
Laurence Robertson Conservative, Tewkesbury, ‘I had a school that was actually dangerous—there was asbestos in it and the windows were very dangerous and almost literally falling out’.
James Frith Labour, Bury North, ‘Schools are riddled with asbestos and face a £100 million shortfall’.
On Tuesday 26th February MP’s in Westminster debates the challenges school face due to school funding cuts. This campaign was mentioned as MP’s highlighted the risks of asbestos in schools and challenged the Department for Education (DFE) on their approach to this serious issue. Meg Hillier asked the DFE to implement an earmarked fund for schools to use for asbestos removal. She also demand that the department ‘name and shame’ those school that have not responded to the first national asbestos in schools survey that closed in February 2019. It’s great news that the department is getting traction. We’ll keep up the pressure and let you know how they respond.
Concerns about asbestos in Birmingham schools https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-47414400
As ever the Local Authority are quick to reassure parents that there are no issues. I felt the information that they provided to my FOI in 2016 was quite patchy with several schools using generic documents and not co ducting regular reviews of the asbestos in place. Hopefully things have improved since then. They also released the the list of names of schools that they refused to provide to the BBC’s more recent request. It’s here https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/asbestos_in_birmingham_schools#incoming-885225
In March 2018 the Department for Education launched the first national survey to gather data on how asbestos in our schools is being managed. It was due to close 3 months later. It’s been extended three times and now, eleven months later there are still Sig ificant numbers of schools that haven’t provided the data. How can they expect us to believe that asbestos in schools is safely managed without the paperwork to back this up?
This report gives more detail
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-46961752
Two more press stories on discoveries of asbestos in schools that could be harmful to children and teachers. As the articles show, an asbestos discovery can have a significant impact on the school. This is why schools need the Department for Education to commit to funding a strategy of phased removal of asbestos from schools. These examples are from Plymouth and Oxfordshire but the problem of asbestos in schools is across England and Wales.
https://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/news/primary-school-investigating-after-reports-1481675
This weekend there has been coverage of asbestos disturbed in a primary school in Lancaster. The response from the local authority is that this is 'low level' but there is no 'safe level' of asbestos exposure and a 5 year old is five times more at risk of developing incurable mesothelioma as a 30 year old.
Sarah Stoddart was a committed primary school teacher for many years. Saldy she was exposed to asbestos when teaching and died from mesothelioma in 2017.
Before she died Sarah made this powerful film explaining the dangers of asbestos in schools. Please share this video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hBJ7hhcrqE
50,000 signatures reached
20,000 signatures reached
This new resource has been launched for parents, teachers, school governors and other school staff. It is a short informative guide providing more information about asbestos in schools and offering guidance about what schools need to do to keep their pupils and staff safe. Please use the resource (it's free) and share with your local schools and/or local council. Awareness and transparency about asbestos is the only way to keep safe from this deadly disease.
https://www.moderngovernor.com/access-asbestos-schools-e-learning-module/
The government recently released their review on the management of asbestos in schools. It found significant numbers of schools were not safely managing asbestos
http://schoolsweek.co.uk/asbestos-significant-cause-for-concern-in-over-100-schools/
My own Freedom of Information requests have identified significant numbers of disturbances in schools in the last five years.
http://schoolsweek.co.uk/staff-and-pupils-exposed-to-asbestos-on-more-than-90-occasions/
And MP's have recently heard evidence from a Head Teacher who had to 'hose-down' pupils at his school on two or three occasions after they were exposed to asbestos.
https://inews.co.uk/essentials/news/education/pupils-hosed-amid-asbestos-exposure-fears/
There is no safe level of exposure to asbestos. Asbestos fibres cause mesothelioma, an incurable cancer. The government policy of leaving asbestos in place is gambling with our children's futures.
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Limited by Guarantee
Registered Company No. 06642193 in England and Wales
Registered office: 10 Queen Street Place, First Floor, EC4R 1BE, London, UK
