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River Tyne Debris Clearance
Mr. Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will list the contributions in the last five years from the Environment Agency and its predecessors to the "Eager Beaver" River Tyne Debris Clearance vessel; and what are his reasons for discontinuing this contribution in the next financial year. [23647]
Angela Eagle: The contributions made to the "Eager Beaver" River Tyne Debris Clearance vessel in the past five years by the Environment Agency from 1996-97 and the National Rivers Authority before it, are as follows:
- 1993-94: £4,000
- 1994-95: £4,000
- 1995-96: £2,000
- 1996-97: £2,000
- 1997-98: £2,000
The Environment Agency is an executive non-Departmental public body, free to manage its day to day business within the framework provided by the
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Government. Any decision about its future funding contributions to the "Eager Beaver" is therefore a matter for the Agency.
Mr. Etherington:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what are the latest results of his Department's research into rain penetration in cavity walls. [24238]
Angela Eagle:
On behalf of the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions the Building Research Establishment has undertaken research into water penetration in cavity walls filled with insulation.
As part of my Department's ongoing programme of research into rain penetration in cavity walls, I have, in consultation with my hon. Friends the Minister for London and Construction and the Minister for Local Government and Housing, asked for precautionary checks to be carried out on the condition of galvanised steel wire wall ties in a representative sample of homes with cavity walls filled with insulation. This follows the preliminary results of research which indicate that there is a possibility that the life expectancy of green coloured galvanised steel wire wall ties might be shortened when used in conjunction with Urea Formaldehyde foam cavity fill. The tests were undertaken on dwarf walls without the protective features found in real houses. I wish, therefore, to establish whether the effects indicated in the BRE research occur in real houses.
I want to stress that there is no conclusive evidence of a safety risk involving galvanised steel wire wall ties in cavity wall insulation. But it would be wrong if, as a result of the preliminary findings, we did not investigate quickly and thoroughly whether or not the possible problems with green coloured galvanised steel wire wall ties in some cavity fills were occurring in people's homes. This is a prudent, precautionary measure and I have asked that further research be carried out as soon as possible.
The expert, independent, advice I have received from the BRE is that, while it believes that its initial findings indicate the need for a wider study, it is strongly of the view that it would be premature to place any firm interpretation on its findings until it can be established whether they are representative of conditions in the UK housing stock.
While the number of homes containing galvanised wire wall ties with a green film, in cavity wall insulation, is a small portion of the housing stock, it is prudent to carry out these precautionary checks which will be extended to examine other forms of galvanised wire wall ties in cavity fill.
BRE's test results show:
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The results were obtained from experimental walls after 12 and 18 months subject to regimes of accelerated exposure. Copies of BRE's Research report have been placed in the House Library.
Mr. Alasdair Morgan:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions, pursuant to the answer of 12 January 1998, Official Report, column 111, on ferry crews, if he will set out the criteria which the Marine Safety Agency uses in assessing the ability of passenger ferry crew members to communicate in English. [23725]
Ms Glenda Jackson:
I have asked the Chief Executive of the Marine Safety Agency, Mr. Bradley, to write to the hon. Member.
Letter from R. M. Bradley to Mr. Alasdair Morgan, dated 19 January 1998:
Mr. Sanders:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will advise the managements of all railway and underground stations not to rely on charity registration as an indication of respectability. [22886]
Ms Glenda Jackson:
Applications for charity collections on railway and underground stations are considered by the operators on an individual basis and do not solely rely on the fact that an organisation is registered with the Charity Commission.
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Mr. Sanders:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will advise the management of railway and underground stations to require a recommendation from an independent source before permitting charity collections on station land and premises. [22884]
Ms Glenda Jackson:
Permission for charity collections on railway and underground stations is a matter for the individual operator, in this case Railtrack, the train operating company or London Underground Ltd. Charities are advised to seek permission from them in advance to enable applications to be considered and collection times to be allocated.
Mr. Matthew Taylor:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what is the Government's policy on the purchasing for use by Government departments and agencies of (a) Brazilian mahogany and (b) other endangered timber; how the policy is implemented and monitored; in what form the results of that monitoring are published; and if he will make a statement. [23847]
Angela Eagle:
Decisions on the procurement of goods and services, including timber or related products, are the responsibility of individual Departments. Departments must have regard to the need to secure best value for the taxpayers' money, to EU and other international rules on procurement and to their strategies for environmentally friendly housekeeping. In pursuing these aims, Departments can be expected to seek timber from sustainable sources where practicable. My Department's Green Guide for Buyers Part 1: Policy and Practice, which I have commended to Green Ministers in other Departments, requires minimum use of virgin materials, and the Department seeks as far as possible to purchase wood only from sources verified as sustainable. Costa Rica and Bolivia have listed their populations of Brazilian Mahogany in Appendix III of CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species) and Brazil has consulted on a proposal to do the same. The importation of this species into the EU requires an export permit or a certificate from the country of origin. Importers are required to complete a notification in order to help monitoring of the levels of trade.
Mr. David Heath:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if the funding for implementation of the Pennington Report, announced on 19 August 1997, will count against local authority spending limits. [22948]
Mr. Raynsford
[holding answer 16 January 1998]: In line with the announcement made on 19 August 1997 by my hon. Friend the Minister for Public Health, £3.75 million of extra funding has been provided to English local authorities to contribute towards the additional costs of inspecting food premises more frequently. This will assist in implementing the Government's response to the Pennington report. As a rule, expenditure for which
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provision is made within an authority's Standard Spending Assessment (SSA) is included in an authority's budget requirement for capping purposes. Authorities are able to increase their budgets by at least the increase in their SSA, except where it would take their budget more than 12.5 per cent. above SSA or where their budget is already more than 12.5 per cent. above SSA.
Accelerated corrosion has occurred to galvanised steel wire wall ties which have been coated with a green identification film when embedded in moist urea formaldehyde foam cavity insulation.
Whilst there was visual evidence of corrosion of "grey" (without the green film) galvanised steel wire wall ties embedded in moist cavity fill insulation, the measurement of loss of zinc was too small to be significant.
No significant corrosion was found in either form of galvanised steel wire wall tie embedded in moist blown mineral wood or mineral wool batt cavity insulation.
There was some visual evidence of corrosion on both types of galvanised steel wire ties at the gap which occurs between the masonry and all three types of wet insulation.
Stainless steel wire wall ties showed no signs of corrosion irrespective of the cavity fill material and exposure.
The Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions has asked me to reply to your Question about the criteria used by the MSA in assessing the abilities of passenger ferry crew members to communicate in English.
MSA inspectors, when witnessing emergency drills on passenger ferries, expect crew members to be able to communicate clearly to passengers in English the location of the following (which are specifically referred to in the Merchant Shipping (Minimum Standards of Safety Communications) Regulations 1997):
muster stations;
life-saving devices;
evacuation routes;
safety instructions;
and to be able to give a clear explanation to passengers of other matters such as:
the nature of the emergency;
the need to put on warm clothing;
instruction to board a life boat or life raft.
The inspectors may apply these criteria at any other time if they feel that crew members' English language skills need to be assessed.
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