asbestos in Cornish schools

The request was partially successful.

Dear Cornwall Council,

Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, please provide me with the following information:

1. The names of the schools in your county that contain asbestos.
2. The date and outcome of the last independent audit or inspection of each of these schools Asbestos Management Plans.
3. The details of any reported incidents of asbestos exposure in these schools between 2011 and 2016.
4. Details of any improvement or prohibition notice served or guidance issued by the HSE in relation to the management of asbestos in schools in your county in the last 5 years.
5. The number of school employees (existing and retired staff to include teaching staff, school support staff and caretakers, etc) and ex-pupils that have pursued a claim against you for exposure to asbestos within a school in your county.
6. The number of these claims that have been settled.
7. The amount of money that has been paid in settlement of these claims (with and without your authority accepting responsibility).

I understand that under the Act I am entitled to a response within 20 working days of your receipt of this request. Some parts of the request may be easier to answer than others. Should this be the case, I request that you release information as soon as possible.

If my request is denied in whole or in part, I ask that you justify all deletions by reference to specific exemptions of the Act. I will also expect you to release all non-exempt material. I reserve the right to appeal your decision to withhold any information or to charge excessive
fees.

I would prefer to receive the information electronically.

If you require any clarification, please contact me in accordance with your duty under Section 16 to provide advice and assistance if you find any aspect of this FOI request problematic.

Please acknowledge receipt of this request by email. I look forward to receiving the information in the near future.

Yours faithfully,

Lucie Stephens

Cornwall Council

Thank you for your Freedom of Information/Environmental Information Regulations (EIR) request - Reference FOI-101002964681. In normal circumstances we will provide a response within 20 working days of receiving your request.

In the majority of cases, the response will be sent to you from Cornwall Council. However, the Council has a number of wholly owned arm?s length companies and where the information is held by these companies, the request will be administered and responded to by the relevant company. This includes Cornwall Housing, CORMAC and Cornwall Development Company (CDC).

There may be some instances where we will need to contact you in the order to clarify parts of your request, or where the cost of dealing with your request is excessive due to the time involved in collating the information. If this is the case we will help you to narrow the request to take it under any cost limit. Under EIR Regulations, there are also instances where a charge may be applied for information that is not required to be routinely published. We will notify you if this is the case.

There are occasions when information may be withheld due to data protection issues or where the information is of a commercially sensitive nature or is deemed confidential. Where this is the case, we will apply an exemption under FOI or exception under EIR and clearly set out the reasons for withholding the information. Under FOI legislation, all responses are deemed to be released to the ?world at large?. Therefore when requesting information of which you may be aware of certain aspects, our response must be based on it being released into the wider public domain.

There may also be a small number of occasions where we may need to extend the 20 working day deadline. We will inform you if this is likely. More information can also be found on our Freedom of information pages using the following link: https://www.cornwall.gov.uk/council-and-...

Cornwall Council and its arm?s length companies are committed to open and transparent government and provide information to members of the public about all aspects of the Council and these companies. Over 4000 requests for information are received each year and it is estimated that the cost to the Council and its arm?s length companies of dealing with each request ranges between £150 and £350 to administer. You may be able to find the information by checking previous responses using http://www.cornwall.gov.uk/default.aspx?... or checking the Council?s website at www.cornwall.gov.uk.

Therefore if you do subsequently find the information you require by this method and no longer wish us to process your request, please let us know.

This e-mail and attachments are intended for above named only and may be confidential. If they have come to you in error you must take no action based on them, nor must you copy or show them to anyone; please e-mail us immediately at [email address].

Please note that this e-mail may be subject to recording and/or monitoring in accordance with the relevant legislation and may need to be disclosed under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 or the Environmental Information Regulations 2004.
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Freedom Of Information Mail, Cornwall Council

2 Attachments

Dear Ms Stephens

 

Please find attached a letter formally enclosing the Council’s response to
your request for information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
 If you have difficulty in opening the attachment(s), please contact me
and I will send you a copy by post.

 

Kind regards

 

Mario C

Freedom of Information & Complaints Advisor

Customer Access & Digital Services

 

Room 4S, New County Hall, Treyew Road, Truro TR1 3AY

[1]www.cornwall.gov.uk

 

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This e-mail and attachments are intended for above named only and may be
confidential. If they have come to you in error you must take no action
based on them, nor must you copy or show them to anyone; please e-mail us
immediately at [email address].

Please note that this e-mail may be subject to recording and/or monitoring
in accordance with the relevant legislation and may need to be disclosed
under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 or the Environmental Information
Regulations 2004.

Security Warning: It is the responsibility of the recipient to ensure that
this e-mail and any attachments are virus free. The Authority will not
accept liability for any damage caused by a virus.

References

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1. http://www.cornwall.gov.uk/