Asbestos in Birmingham schools
Dear Birmingham City Council,
This is a Freedom of Information request for the following information. Please provide me with;
1. The names of the schools in your borough 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. The number of school employees (existing and retired staff to include teaching staff, school support staff and caretakers, etc) that have pursued a claim against you for exposure to asbestos within a Birmingham school.
5. The number of these claims that have been settled.
6. The amount of money that has been paid in settlement of these claims (with and without your authority accepting responsibility).
I would like to receive a copy of this information electronically.
Please send me an email to confirm receipt of this request.
Yours faithfully,
Lucie Stephens
Dear Birmingham City Council,
Your response to my FOI is now overdue. Please confirm when you will be providing the information that I have requested.
Yours faithfully,
Lucie Stephens
Dear Ms Stephens
Further to your email below your request was due for a response yesterday,
we apologise for the delay. I have copied in the service area who are
dealing with your request and they will update you into the delay.
Yours sincerely
Corporate Information Governance Team
10 Woodcock Street
Aston
Birmingham
B7 4BL
Telephone: 0121 303 2080
Dear Ms Stephens
Please see attached letter in relation to your request under the Freedom
of Information Act.
Regards
PSS Central
Directorate for People
Birmingham City Council
Telephone 0121 0085/ 0121 303 4720/ 0121 464 5180
Email: [1][email address]
References
Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
Dear Ms Stephens
Please see attached letter in relation to your request under the Freedom
of Information Act.
Kind regards
Kulwant Ghaleigh
Professional Support Services Officer
(Supporting Commissioning Centre of Excellence – Core Services)
Directorate for People
Birmingham City Council
Phone: 0121 303 4720
Email: [1][email address]
Please note Thursday is my non-working day
References
Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
Dear Kulwant Ghaleigh,
I am extremely disappointed by your response to date. By law Birmingham should have responded to my request by 28 September 2016. I do hope that the full response will be available soon.
Yours sincerely,
Lucie Stephens
Dear Ms Stephens
Further to your email below, we are sorry about the delay in responding to your FOI request. This is due to unforeseen circumstances beyond our control. We intend to respond to your request on or before 24/10/16.
Kind regards
PSS Central
Directorate for People
Birmingham City Council
Telephone 0121 0085/ 0121 303 4720/ 0121 464 5180
Email: [email address]
Dear Lucie
I am writing in respect of your recent enquiry for information held by the
Authority under the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 2000:
This is a Freedom of Information request for the following information.
Please provide me with;
1. The names of the schools in your borough 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. The number of school employees (existing and retired staff to include
teaching staff, school support staff and caretakers, etc) that have
pursued a claim against you for exposure to asbestos within a Birmingham
school.
5. The number of these claims that have been settled.
6. The amount of money that has been paid in settlement of these claims
(with and without your authority accepting responsibility).
Please see response below:
1. The names of the schools in your borough that contain asbestos.
Attached is a list of all Local Authority school buildings for which the
LA has a level asbestos related responsibilities( i.e. Community and
Voluntary Controlled Schools) and which contain asbestos or have the
potential to contain asbestos as the buildings were constructed prior to
2000.
2. The date and outcome of the last independent audit or inspection
of each of these schools Asbestos Management Plans. A general audit
relating to statutory testing which included questions about asbestos was
carried out for a small sample of schools in 2015. The dates and outcome
of the audit for the sample schools relating to Asbestos Management Plan
are captured in the attached spreadsheet.
3. The details of any reported incidents of asbestos exposure in these
schools between 2011 and 2016.
There were 6 reported incidents in the period specified, please see below
the details.
Incident details
A workbench inlayed with cement based asbestos tile which had been painted
over was cut through.
Contractor replacing light fittings.
Existing debris identified, by survey, from an earlier school project.
Contractor drilling into wall.
Asbestos in the boiler room.
Detail unknown.
4. The number of school employees (existing and retired staff to
include teaching staff, school support staff and caretakers, etc) that
have pursued a claim against you for exposure to asbestos within a
Birmingham school. 7 claims from various occupations.
5. The number of these claims that have been settled. 5 out of the 7
claims resulted in damages payments.
6. The amount of money that has been paid in settlement of these
claims (with and without your authority accepting responsibility). The
amount paid in damages £500k including interest.
If you have any information which may assist us in determining or locating
any missed information, we would be grateful if you would contact us with
details of this information, so that we can conduct a further search.
If you are not satisfied with the response you may ask for an internal
review. If subsequently you are not satisfied with the Council's decision
you may apply to the Information Commissioner for a decision. Generally,
the ICO cannot make a decision unless you have exhausted the complaints
procedure provided by the Council. The Information Commissioner can be
contacted at the following address:
The Information Commissioner
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Telephone: 01625 545745 Web Address: [1]www.ico.gov.uk
Yours sincerely,
PSS Central
Directorate for People
Birmingham City Council
Telephone 0121 464 0085/303 4720/464 5180
Email: [2][email address]
References
Visible links
1. http://www.ico.gov.uk/
2. mailto:[email address]
We work to defend the right to FOI for everyone
Help us protect your right to hold public authorities to account. Donate and support our work.
Donate Now