£190,000 to deal with asbestos in Telford schools

Telford & Wrekin Council has set aside £30,000 to remove asbestos from Millbrook and Shortwood primary schools before the end of the financial year in April.

A further £25,000 has been earmarked for managing asbestos at the town's High Ercall Primary School.

The authority has set aside another £60,000 to deal with the problem at other schools in the borough over the financial year, which will be used to pay for surveys, removing asbestos, and awareness training.

A further £75,000 has been committed to works dealing with asbestos in the borough's schools for the 2018/19 financial year.

Telford & Wrekin Council spokesman Chris Kowalik said: " As with all buildings of such an age, there is a risk that asbestos may have been used in their construction.

"Telford & Wrekin Council is working through its schools estate to assess the risks and remove any asbestos safely."

Figures released under the Freedom of Information Act show that more than £1.4 million has been spent on managing and removing asbestos at schools across Shropshire over the 10 years up to 2016

Telford & Wrekin Council has spent just over £665,000 on such works, while Shropshire Council and its predecessors spent £779,000.

Shropshire Council has set aside £350,000 to deal with asbestos management over the next 10 years.

The figures were disclosed following a request by campaigner Lucie Stephens, whose mother Sue died last year from an asbestos-related cancer after working as a teacher for 30 years.

Miss Stephens, from Devon, is campaigning for new laws requiring every school in the UK to produce an annual report about the type and condition of any asbestos on its premises.

"Parents have been kept in the dark about asbestos risks for too long," she said.

"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."

Miss Stephens is also calling on the Government to introduce a policy for the phased removal of all asbestos from schools over the next 11 years, starting with the most dangerous types.

"MP's recommended this in 2012 but no action has been taken," she said.

She said 86 per cent of schools contained asbestos, putting more than seven million pupils at risk.

"A survey in 2015 found that 44 per cent of teachers have not been told if their school contains asbestos," said Miss Stephens.

"This lack of awareness puts them and their pupils at risk of exposure."

More than 224 school teachers in England died of mesothelioma between 2003 and 2012, she added.