https://sputnikglobe.com/20230818/legionella-and-leaking-sewage-pipes-plague-uk-government-buildings-1112701234.html
Legionella and Leaking Sewage Pipes Plague UK Government Buildings
Legionella and Leaking Sewage Pipes Plague UK Government Buildings
Sputnik International
A Downing Street spokesman said the British government faced a challenge maintaining its 140,000 properties — many of them aging. But a civil servants' union insisted that its members had a right to safe and sanitary workplaces.
2023-08-18T12:58+0000
2023-08-18T12:58+0000
2023-08-18T12:59+0000
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united kingdom (uk)
britain
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civil service
her majesty's revenue and customs (hmrc)
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legionella bacteria
legionnaire’s disease
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More than 100 sewage leaks — and even a legionella contamination — have been found at British government properties over the past year.The government response to a Parliamentary question tabled by the small opposition Liberal Democratic Party revealed that there were 138 sewage leaks recorded across the 140,000 sites managed by the Government Property Agency (GP).Of those leaks, 102 were at four Ministry of Defence sites: Culdrose, RAF Henlow, Lyneham, and Faslane — the naval base in Scotland home to the UK's submarine-based nuclear deterrent.In addition, legionella bacteria were detected "small number of water outlets" at the Liverpool office of Her majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) during "routine sampling" — with staff forced to work from home.Legionella causes the potentially-fatal disease legionnaire's disease, known to plague hotels.The First Division Association (FDA), the trade union for senior civil servants, said the GPA needed to "take responsibility and control" and "guarantee the very basic right of a safe working environment for all civil servants."The report came just a week after trafficked asylum-seekers had to be moved out of their new accommodation on the Bibby Stockholm hotel barge in Portland harbour, Dorset after legionella was found it its water supply.A government spokesman said problems were bound to arise in a "large, complex property estate" with many older buildings of "historical importance.""As is always the case with managing any large property portfolio, issues do arise with maintenance," he said. "That's why we have invested £56m in improving and maintaining buildings."
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british civil service, bibby stockholm hotel barge, first division association, liberal democratic party, lib dems
Legionella and Leaking Sewage Pipes Plague UK Government Buildings
12:58 GMT 18.08.2023 (Updated: 12:59 GMT 18.08.2023) A Downing Street spokesman said the British government faced a challenge maintaining its 140,000 properties — many of them aging. But a civil servants' union insisted that its members had a right to safe and sanitary workplaces.
More than 100 sewage leaks — and even a legionella contamination — have been found at British government properties over the past year.
The government response to a Parliamentary question tabled by the small opposition Liberal Democratic Party revealed that there were 138 sewage leaks recorded across the 140,000 sites managed by the Government Property Agency (GP).
Of those leaks, 102 were at four Ministry of Defence sites: Culdrose, RAF Henlow, Lyneham, and Faslane — the naval base in Scotland home to the UK's submarine-based nuclear deterrent.
In addition, legionella bacteria were detected "small number of water outlets" at the Liverpool office of Her majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) during "routine sampling" — with staff forced to work from home.
Legionella causes the potentially-fatal disease
legionnaire's disease, known to plague hotels.
The First Division Association (FDA), the trade union for senior civil servants, said the GPA needed to "take responsibility and control" and "guarantee the very basic right of a safe working environment for all civil servants."
"It is clearly unacceptable for civil servants to be working in unsafe and unsanitary environments, and these incidents could cause serious harm or sickness," said FDA Assistant General Secretary Amy Leversidge. "Nobody should have to work in these conditions."
The report came just a week after
trafficked asylum-seekers had to be moved out of their new accommodation on the
Bibby Stockholm hotel barge in Portland harbour, Dorset after legionella was found it its water supply.
"When I saw what happened to those people on the barge I was aghast. Fifteen people were marched straight off the boat — rightly," one source told a British daily newspaper. "But you’ve got over 1,000 civil servants left in the building while you flush the system."
A government spokesman said problems were bound to arise in a "large, complex property estate" with many older buildings of "historical importance."
"As is always the case with managing any large property portfolio, issues do arise with maintenance," he said. "That's why we have invested £56m in improving and maintaining buildings."
