---

Hot Water Tank Insulation

Ms Ruddock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many (a) total dwellings and (b) dwellings with a hot water tank have (i) hot water tank insulation and (ii) hot water tank insulation of 80 mm or more in (1) England, (2) Wales, (3) Scotland and (4) Northern Ireland. [10242]

Mr. Robert B. Jones: Recent information is not available in this precise form. The following table provides estimates of the number of households in England, Wales and Scotland with hot water tank insulation in December 1995 and the number of dwellings in Northern Ireland with insulation in 1991.

			Thousands
	Total households/ dwellings	With hot water tank	With hot water tank insulation	With 80mm or more insulation
England	19,581	16,667	15,788	10,699
Wales	1,151	969	877	574
Scotland	2,108	1,991	1,871	1,406
Northern Ireland	574	not known	492	not known

Health and Safety Laboratory

Mr. Ingram: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how much has been spent to date on the prior options review and conversation to agency status of the health and safety laboratory; and from which budget these sums were paid. [10074]

Sir Paul Beresford: The conversion of the health and safety laboratory to an internal agency of the Health and Safety Executive on 1 April 1995 followed a review by the Health and Safety Executive's then director general, John Rimington. The estimated cost to the health and safety laboratory of preparing for agency status during 1994-95 was £507,000. It is not possible to quantify the related costs of the other staff of the Health and Safety Executive who were involved in the review of the laboratory and in its subsequent conversion to agency status.

The estimated cost to the Health and Safety Executive of the prior options review was £61,000. All costs were met from within HSE's existing resources.

The health and safety laboratory's status as an agency provides greater exposure to the market place and this is increasing both its efficiency and effectiveness.

13 Jan 1997 : Column: 95

Mr. Ingram: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many (a) United Kingdom, (b) European and (c) international committees include employees of the health and safety laboratory as representatives of United Kingdom interests; and how many of these employees are leading the United Kingdom team on their committee. [10076]

Sir Paul Beresford: Employees of the health and safety laboratory serve on (a) 73 United Kingdom, (b) 62 European and (c) 25 international committees. They lead the United Kingdom team on 21 European and 12 international committees.

Mr. Ingram: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what estimate he has made of the future costs of the prior options review of the health and safety laboratory; and from which budget these sums will be paid. [10075]

Sir Paul Beresford: The review of the health and safety laboratory has been completed and its outcome was announced by my noble Friend Earl Ferrers on 24 July 1996. The Health and Safety Executive has established a team to prepare a detailed plan to implement to the Government's decisions. The estimated cost of preparing this plan is £50,000. It will not be possible to estimate the full costs of implementation until that plan has been finalised. All these costs will be met from within HSE's existing resources.

Mr. Ingram: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many (a) United Kingdom, (b) European and (c) international committees are chaired by employees of the health and safety laboratory. [10077]

Sir Paul Beresford: Employees of the health and safety laboratory chair (a) six United Kingdom, (b) eight European and (c) seven international committees.

Consultants

Mr. Milburn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what estimates he has made of the amount spent on external consultants by his Department's non-departmental public bodies in each of the last five years. [10164]

Sir Paul Beresford: The information requested is not held centrally and could be made available only at disproportionate cost.

Mr. Milburn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the actions his Department has taken on each of the recommendations contained in the Cabinet Office report on the Government's use of external consultants. [10165]

Sir Paul Beresford: A large number of the report's recommendations addressed controls that are already part of the strong framework my Department has in place over the use of external consultants. However, that framework has been strengthened further, through:

(a) issuing revised guidance. This re-emphasises in particular:


- the requirement for a project brief or business case for each consultancy;


- the role and responsibilities of the project manager for each consultancy contract; and


- the procedures for establishing that the consultancy has delivered value for money.

13 Jan 1997 : Column: 96

(b) Ministerial approval for the Department's annual expenditure plan for consultants.

In addition, the Department's purchasing has been made more professional through the establishment of centres of procurement expertise at key points in the organisation, including those who buy consultancies.

Building Research Establishment

Mr. Ingram: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (i) how much has been spent to date on the prior options review and privatisation of the Building Research Establishment; and from which budget these sums were paid; [10002]

(2) what estimate he has made of the future costs of the privatisation of the Building Research Establishment; and from which budget these sums will be paid. [10003]

Mr. Robert B. Jones: The costs of the prior options review, which is complete, and of the privatisation will fall to the Department's administration vote. Work on the review involved staff from this Department overseen by an advisory group drawn from Government and industry. Work on the privatisation involves staff the majority of whom are not working full time on this work. In both cases the staff and related costs could be determined only at disproportionate cost. Expenditure on professional fees in connection with the prior options review were around £100,000. It is estimated that professional fees in connection with the privatisation will be in the region of £1.3 million.

Mr. Ingram: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many (a) United Kingdom, (b) European and (c) international committees include employees of the Building Research Establishment as representatives of UK interests; and how many of these employees are leading the UK team on their committee.[10004]

Mr. Jones: The information is as follows:

	UK	European	International
Number of Committees	350	143	56
UK team leader from BRE	0	6	5

Mr Ingram: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many (a) United Kingdom, (b) European and (c) international committees are chaired by employees of the Building Research Establishment.[10005]

Mr. Jones: The information is as follows:

	Committees chaired by BRE employees
UK	34
European	23
International	6

13 Jan 1997 : Column: 97

Loft Insulation

Ms Ruddock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many (a) total dwellings and (b) dwellings with access to a loft have (i) loft insulation, (ii) loft insulation of 150 mm or more and (iii) loft insulation of 200 mm or more in (1) England, (2) Wales, (3) Scotland and (4) Northern Ireland. [10241]

Mr. Robert B. Jones: Recent information is not available in this precise form. The following table provides estimates of the number of households in England, Wales and Scotland with loft insulation in December 1995 and the number of dwellings in Northern Ireland with insulation in 1991.

				Thousands
	Total households/ dwellings	With accessible loft	With loft insulation	With 150 mm or more insulation
England	19,581	15,649	14,306	2,687
Wales	1,151	959	870	97
Scotland	2,108	1,352	1,203	93
Northern Ireland	574	534	465	not known

Draught-proofing

Ms Ruddock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many dwellings have (a) draught-proofing and (b) draught-proofing of 40 per cent. or more of the dwelling's rooms in (1) England, (2) Wales, (3) Scotland and (4) Northern Ireland. [10243]

Mr. Robert B. Jones: Recent information is not available in this precise form. The following table provides estimates of the number of households in England, Wales and Scotland with draught proofing in December 1995 and the number of dwellings in Northern Ireland with draught proofing in 1991.

			Thousands
	Total household/ dwellings	With draught proofing	With 40 per cent. or more rooms treated
England	19,581	6,078	2,357
Wales	1,151	281	96
Scotland	2,108	895	318
Northern Ireland	574	269	not known

---