Asbestos in North Lincolnshire schools

The request was partially successful.

Dear North Lincolnshire 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

customerservice@northlincs.gov.uk, North Lincolnshire Council

Dear Sir/Madam,

I write to confirm receipt of your request for information under section 1(1) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, which was received on the date shown below and is now being processed. Your request has been given the unique reference number as stated below and you should quote this reference number in all correspondence.

The twenty working day time limit for responding to your request has been activated from the day after the date your request was received. If we are unable to deal with your request within that time limit, you will be contacted to explain the reasons for the delay.

As part of our duty to advise and assist you with your request, should you have any further problems or queries, please use the below address or contact numbers, stating your name, address and reference number.

Local Link Office
Church Square House,
30-40 High Street,
Scunthorpe,
North Lincolnshire,
DN15 6NL

Telephone: 01724 296820
E-Mail: [email address]

Date Received: 15 Nov 2016

Name: Lucie Stephens
Address: CIVIC CENTRE ASHBY ROAD SCUNTHORPE NORTH LINCOLNSHIRE DN16 1AB
Telephone Number:
Mobile Number:
E-Mail Address: [FOI #371140 email]

Reference Number: INF2721808

Details of Request:
Subject: Freedom of Information request - Asbestos in North Lincolnshire schools

Dear North Lincolnshire 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

This e-mail expresses the opinion of the author and is not necessarily the view of the Council. Please be aware that anything included in an e-mail may have to be disclosed under the Freedom of Information Act and cannot be regarded as confidential. This communication is intended for the addressee(s) only. Please notify the sender if received in error. All Email is monitored and recorded.
Please think before you print- North Lincolnshire Council greening the workplace.

Sharon Mitcheson, North Lincolnshire Council

1 Attachment

Dear Ms Stephens

 

Thank you for your recent freedom of information request to North
Lincolnshire Council.

 

In relation to this, please see the attached letter of response.

 

Kind Regards

 

Sharon Mitcheson

Clerical Officer

Business Services

Places Directorate

01724 296725

 

This e-mail expresses the opinion of the author and is not necessarily the view of the Council. Please be aware that anything included in an e-mail may have to be disclosed under the Freedom of Information Act and cannot be regarded as confidential. This communication is intended for the addressee(s) only. Please notify the sender if received in error. All Email is monitored and recorded.
Please think before you print- North Lincolnshire Council greening the workplace.

Dear North Lincolnshire Council,

Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.

I am writing to request an internal review of North Lincolnshire Council's handling of my FOI request 'Asbestos in North Lincolnshire schools'.

You have failed to provide me with the information that I requested. In responses from other Local Education Authorities I have been provided with answers to questions 1-4 (pasted below for your ease of reference) whilst in some limited cases the data for questions 5-7 has been withheld. I was given no opportunity by you to amend my request in order to meet your internal concerns. Your lack of transparency on this issue is extremely worrying. I would ask that the information in questions 1 to 4 is answered urgently.

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 borough in the last 5 years.

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/a...

Yours faithfully,

Lucie Stephens

Dear Sharon Mitcheson,

Your response is extremely disappointing, particularly because it has taken you so long to reach this conclusion. I am concerned that you did not offer me the opportunity to amend my request.
I can only assume that you are withholding information in response to my questions 5-7 because in your response you failed to specify this. You may be interested to hear that most other LEA's have released these figures. In some cases the total numbers were withheld but the LEA still responded to my other questions.
I don't believe you are attempting to withhold information about the number of schools under your control that contain asbestos or the number of reported incidents of asbestos exposure. That would be very worrying indeed. Therefore I have included below the questions again and would appreciate your swift response to them.

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 borough in the last 5 years.

Yours sincerely,

Lucie Stephens

Sharon Mitcheson, North Lincolnshire Council

Hi Ms Stephens

Apologies for the delay unfortunately the officer processing part of this request has been out of the officer, the would like clarification on what you class as "independent".

I can then pass this back, and hopefully respond accordingly.

Kind Regards

Sharon Mitcheson
Clerical Officer
Business Services
Places Directorate
01724 296725

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Dear Sharon Mitcheson,

Thank you for your email. By independent I mean someone outside of the school. I know in some cases people have internal specialist LA inspection teams and in others private contractors are commissioned. Please clarify what approach you use and when inspections took place.

Yours sincerely,

Lucie Stephens

Sharon Mitcheson, North Lincolnshire Council

2 Attachments

Dear Ms Stephens

Thank you for your e-mail below.

Our Information Governance Officers have looked over the details, and have responded accordingly.

Kind Regards
Sharon Mitcheson
Clerical Officer

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