Page 5 - A National Asbestos Strategy

Addressing the UK’s high asbestos presence is critical to the broader agenda for Net Zero
and the £50 billion backlog in public building maintenance.1 The current ‘leave and manage’
strategy has serious issues concerning cases of poorly maintained asbestos being regularly
found, as highlighted in our reported data.
Our research has highlighted these issues further, alongside the need for systematically
improved data collection.
The proposed Asbestos Information Certificate (AIC) will form part of a strategy to streamline
asbestos data, inform national removal strategies, and aid compliance tracking through a central
database. We recommend first testing and implementing the technology and approach using the
AIC across the education sector to obtain an overall picture of the state of asbestos in schools.
Expanding this approach to other sectors, such as the NHS estate, will provide a clearer pathway
for more effective asbestos management in the UK.
The technology adopts a risk-based approach, prioritising public health to eliminate asbestos
exposure. Critically, improvement requires strengthening regulatory frameworks and quality
standards, particularly mandatory accreditation for asbestos surveys.
1 National Audit Office, Government Building Maintenance Backlog Is at Least £49 Billion, Spending Watchdog Says, 22 January 2025,
https://www.nao.org.uk/press-releases/government-building-maintenance-backlog-is-at-least-49-billion-spending-watchdog-says/
www.asbestosinformation.org.uk
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