Asbestos in Stoke on Trent schools

The request was successful.

Dear Stoke on Trent City 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

FOI, Stoke on Trent City Council

Dear Ms Stephens

 

Your request for information ref. SOT55961

 

Thank you for your request for information about asbestos in schools. 
Your request was received by the Information Rights Team on 14 November
2016.  This is being dealt with under the terms of the appropriate
Information Rights legislation.

 

In some circumstances we may charge for information.  If there is a charge
we will let you know, as you will have to pay it before we deal with your
request.

 

Some information does not have to be released under this legislation.  We
will check the information you have asked for and send you as much as
possible.  If another person or organisation is named in the information,
we may have to ask their opinion before we decide what we can give you.

 

You should expect to receive a response to your request on or before 12
December 2016 in line with the legislation's 20 working day statutory
deadline.

 

For your information we may publish the response to your request on our
City Council's website, which can be found at the following address:
[1]www.stoke.gov.uk.

 

If you have any queries about this email please do not hesitate to contact
us.

 

Yours sincerely

 

Information Rights Team

 

Information Rights

Floor 2 Civic Centre Glebe Street

Stoke-on-Trent ST4 1HH

City of Stoke-on-Trent 

t 01782 232853, 01782 233020, 01782 233732, 01782 235965

e [2][Stoke on Trent City Council request email]

 

 

 
 

Stoke-on-Trent is bidding to become the UK City of Culture for 2021. Help
us win, find out more and get behind the bid at [3]www.sot2021.com
#sot2021

Stoke-on-Trent has been awarded the prestigious status of 2016 European
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References

Visible links
1. http://www.stoke.gov.uk/
2. mailto:[Stoke on Trent City Council request email]
3. http://www.sot2021.com/

FOI, Stoke on Trent City Council

1 Attachment

Dear Ms Stephens

 

Your request for information ref. SOT55961 about asbestos in schools

 

We have now considered your request and a copy of the information is
attached below.

 

The information supplied may be used for domestic or journalistic
purposes.  Its use for commercial gain including issuing to the public,
social media or computer blogs may be subject to the issue of a licence
under the Reuse of Public Sector Information Regulations 2015.

 

 

1.    The names of the schools in your county that contain asbestos.

 

Response: We confirm that we have no incident records of exposure to
asbestos

nor any notices or documents from the HSE involving schools.

 

2.    The date and outcome of the last independent audit or inspection of
each of these schools Asbestos Management Plans.

 

Response: Please see the attached document.

 

3.    The details of any reported incidents of asbestos exposure in these
schools between 2011 and 2016.

 

Response: Please see response to question 2 above.

 

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.

 

Response: Please see attached documents.

 

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.

 

Response: You have not specified a time frame for this information,
however we can confirm that the council received 17 Employer Liability
claims for alleged exposure to asbestos from 2006 to 2016.  No Public
Liability claims were received.

 

Please let us know if you require a different time frame.

 

6.    The number of these claims that have been settled.

 

Response: 10 of the 17 Employer Liability claims for alleged exposure to
asbestos have been settled.

 

7.    The amount of money that has been paid in settlement of these claims
(with and without your authority accepting responsibility).

 

Response: £101,321.90 has been paid out for 4 of the 10 claims above.  The
other 6 claims had no payments made against them.

 

If you are unhappy with the service you have received in relation to your
request and wish to make a complaint or request a review of our decision,
you should write to: Information Rights Manager, Customer Feedback and
Information Rights Team, Corporate Services, Stoke-on-Trent City Council,
Floor 2, Civic Centre, Glebe Street, ST4 1HH, or email
[1][Stoke on Trent City Council request email].

 

If, after contacting us, you are not content with the outcome, you may ask
the Information Commissioner for a decision.  Before doing this, please
see the following link for guidance from the Information Commissioner
relating to how to use your information rights responsibly and
effectively, to enable you to gain the best outcome from the process -
[2]http://ico.org.uk/for_the_public.

 

Generally, the Information Commissioner cannot make a decision unless you
have already used our internal review procedure. The Information
Commissioner can be contacted at: The Information Commissioner’s Office,
Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF, tel: 0303 123
1113 or you can visit their website at [3]www.ico.gov.uk/complaints.aspx.

 

Yours sincerely

 

Information Rights Team

 

Information Rights

City of Stoke-on-Trent

Floor 2  Civic Centre  Glebe Street  Stoke-on-Trent  ST4 1HH

T: 01782 232853, 01782 233020, 01782 233732, 01782 235965

E: [4][Stoke on Trent City Council request email]

 

 

Dear Stoke on Trent City 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

 

 

 

 
 

Stoke-on-Trent is bidding to become the UK City of Culture for 2021. Help
us win, find out more and get behind the bid at [5]www.sot2021.com
#sot2021

Stoke-on-Trent has been awarded the prestigious status of 2016 European
City of Sport. Join in sporting celebrations at
www.stoke.gov.uk/cityofsport #CityOfSpor...

It’s ‘Click and Easy’ to manage your Council Tax and Business Rates
securely online – anywhere, anytime. Sign up for an Online Account now at
www.stoke.gov.uk/counciltax and www.stoke.gov.uk/businessrates

show quoted sections

 

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[Stoke on Trent City Council request email]
2. http://ico.org.uk/for_the_public
3. http://www.ico.gov.uk/complaints.aspx
4. mailto:[Stoke on Trent City Council request email]
5. http://www.sot2021.com/