To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families for what reasons he decided to include the requirement for an asbestos survey in the standard contract documentation for the Building Schools for the Future programme; and what data on the presence of asbestos in schools he took into account in making that decision. (302010)

The reasons we decided to include the requirement for an asbestos survey in the standard documentation are to:

reinforce the need for compliance with asbestos legislation;

find out if Asbestos Containing Materials (ACMs) are present; and

avoid contractual delays and financial uncertainties.

This is based on experience from previous building programmes where the discovery of ACMs during refurbishment has led to substantial delays and unforeseen costs.