One of the most commonly cited advantages of the academies system is how schools are given greater independence in the running of their administrative affairs.
The thinking goes that academies and MATs can respond to various operational challenges and address areas of need in a way that’s best for them in a timely fashion, rather than having to accept whatever solutions an LA might choose on their behalf.
However, it could be argued that the distributed responsibility of such a system isn’t up to the task of addressing challenges of a scale and severity that warrant a centrally devised and consistently applied response.
One such challenge is the managing of asbestos materials found in older school buildings. After asbestos was found to cause forms of cancer, notably mesothelioma, multiple countries banned its use in construction and existing traces of the material were made subject to strict health and monitoring regulations.
(Though at the time of writing, the US government’s Environmental Protection Agency had just taken the controversial step of proposing a new rule that would allow for the manufacture of new products containing asbestos, subject to EPA approval).
In April this year, the Joint Union Asbestos Committee – a trade union committee including representatives from ASCL, the NAHT, the NEU, NASUWT and others – issued a set of figures that seemed to indicate the academies system is ill-equipped to deal with the ongoing issue of asbestos presence within school issues.
From data gathered via a series of Freedom of Information requests, the JUAC identified 54 reported incidents of asbestos exposure within academy schools, and found that five MATs had had action taken against them by the Health and Safety Executive.
The JUAC went on to note that the number of incidents may have been even higher, with some MATs not responding to the group’s requests for information and others returning incomplete responses.
The group further found that some MATs had no asbestos management plans in place at their academies, and that a number were failing to carry out audits of buildings constructed before the year 2000, in contravention of their statutory duties. In a few cases, MATs were unable to gather the information requested due to their involvement in Private Finance Initiative arrangements.
Commenting on the release of the figures, JUAC chair John McClean said, “This information confirms that the government’s policy of managing asbestos in schools has failed. There is absolutely no uniformity in how multi academy trusts are managing their asbestos, and no standardised procedures followed when schools transfer to academy trusts.”
NASUWT general secretary Chris Keates in turn remarked that, “Whilst the failure of the government to ensure there is in place a programme for the phased removal of asbestos from schools is shocking enough, equally shocking is its failure to ensure that it is managed consistently across all schools. “Asbestos is lethal.”
