Q: What does it take to remove deadly asbestos from buildings? A: Political Will

Last week (n.b. 03/04/2025) Asbestos Information CIC launched a report in Parliament outlining how a data-driven approach to asbestos management can identify the location and condition of asbestos in buildings, highlighting the most damaged - and potentially lethal - materials as part of a national strategy for phased removal.

The panel was chaired by Carolyn Quinn, former Radio 4 presenter of the Westminster Hour, who asked the question, “What is the barrier to removing asbestos?” There are many, including the scale of the challenge and the costs to the state of doing this. But none of these are insurmountable. The cost of doing nothing, compared with the benefits of acting now, will only increase over time.

The real and most challenging barrier is political will. The previous government did nothing to address the issue, ignoring the recommendations or the Work and Pensions Committee, and allowing the HSE to sweep the problem under the carpet.

As Chair of the Work and Pensions Committee, and now as Minister with responsibility for the HSE, Sir Stephen Timms has been a strong and consistent advocate for reforming our approach to the management of asbestos in the UK.

Significantly, the Prime Minister has also spoken out about removing the risk of exposure to asbestos. In October 2024 on a visit to an NHS hospital Kier Starmer told the Daily Mail “Asbestos is a killer, so whatever we need to do to reduce that risk, we absolutely need to do. It’s an awful, awful killer, not just a killer, but the way in which it kills people is just dreadful.”

This has so far culminated in the hugely significant remarks made by HSE at the Work & Pensions Select Committee Evidence Session that there is an agreement between HSE and government to remove asbestos entirely from built environment. However, there is as yet, no agreed timeframe for doing this.

A start date and timeframe for removing asbestos is urgently needed and the report by Asbestos Information CIC is calling for all those affected by asbestos related disease to write to their local MP alerting them to the prevalence of asbestos deaths and the presence of asbestos in their constituency. The online map enables users to identify constituency details and email contacts.

None of the MPs who were invited to the launch of the report in Parliament attended. Few extended their apologies.

It is clear that a strong cross-party coalition of committed MPs is needed to ensure that a plan to remove asbestos is agreed and adhered to, not least because it will take decades before all traces of asbestos are finally removed from the UK.