Council investigated over asbestos in town hall

An investigation has been launched against a council after breaches over identifying and dealing with asbestos in a city's town hall were found.

Oxford City Council was served an improvement notice after the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) inspected the building in February, which has since been resolved.

It stated that the local authority had "failed to ensure that where asbestos is or is liable to be present in buildings with public occupation".

The council said it had "taken action to comply with the improvement notice" and submitted the required evidence ahead of the deadline on 30 May.

It comes as part of an HSE campaign to inspect hundreds of council buildings to check that they are managing the risk of asbestos properly, which was launched last December.

The notice to Oxford City Council further stated that its staff had not prepared written plans for identifying the affected parts of the building and that measures to manage the risk of asbestos had not been set out in the written plans.

The council said it had taken "further steps to revisit any previously inaccessible areas and ensure management plans were in place for priority buildings".

"The council has been working with the HSE continuously since the initial visit to ensure that all areas identified are compliant," a council spokesperson said.

"These have since been addressed within the timeframe and significant additional improvements have been made to strengthen how asbestos risks are managed and communicated across our estate."

The statement added that there was "no specific incident" that led to the investigation.

The council follows the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012, which requires asbestos-containing materials to be inspected regularly, usually once a year, or more often if needed.

It has carried out asbestos management surveys for the town hall, with site plans and photos clearly showing the locations of any asbestos material and registers showing the known or presumed location of any asbestos-containing materials.

The spokesperson added the information was "reviewed regularly" and that it had been made available to maintenance staff, contractors and anyone else who might need it.

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