We have called for Government to establish a central register of all asbestos currently in place in public buildings across the UK (including schools, hospitals and social housing). In response to this the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) stated:

‘It is not clear what additional benefits a national database would have over [existing practice]. Given the number of buildings in Great Britain that contain asbestos; the amount of maintenance and refurbishment work that is done on buildings; and the degree of detail on each building required to make the data accurate; any such national system would be hard to achieve and very difficult to maintain.’

Our paper challenges the HSE position, arguing that a national database would bring a range of benefits. Furthermore, that new technology may be used to feasibly create and maintain a national database.

In this event we will discuss our findings and a potential way forward with:

• David Morris MP
• Martin Docherty-Hughes MP
• Charles Pickles, Independent Campaigner
• Andrew Paten, UKNAR