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Air Conditioning

Mr. Sayeed: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions, (1) pursuant to the letter sent by (Mr. Chope) Under-Secretary of State to the hon. Member for Christchurch on 23 October 2001 whether (a) the technological elements of the refurbishment of the air conditioning chillers at the QE2 Centre have been finalised and(b)whether these are to contain not-in-kind or HFC refrigerants; [41158]

(2) whether an installer capable of installing not-in-kind air conditioning is being invited to quote for the refurbishment contract for the QE2 building; and if he will make a statement; [41162]

(3) which consultant is being used to advise on the installation of replacement air conditioning at the QE2 building. [41184]

(4) what measures are being taken by his Department to ensure that the consultant advising on the installation of replacement air conditioning at the QE2 building is aware of the Government's policy on the use of hydrofluorocarbon refrigerants in air-conditioning; and if he will make a statement on the measures taken by the consultant to source practical and safe alternatives to hydrofluorocarbon-based air-conditioning. [41157]

Dr. Whitehead: We have been working on this project with a team which includes project managers Project Management International, engineers Cundall Johnson Partnership, architects Gollins Melvin Ward Partnership and cost consultants Dearle and Henderson. This team has experience of various, including not-in-kind, air-conditioning projects. We have engaged experts from AEA Technology to provide

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health and safety risk assessment. We also have engaged as client advisers a specialist team of refrigeration experts headed by BRE.

Our project team has been evaluating the whole life costs and benefits of all options including not-in-kind air-conditioning. The project team and our advisers are fully aware of Government and Departmental policy on refrigerants and their work reflects this.

We expect to make a decision in the spring on a choice of replacement air-conditioning which fully reflects this policy. We will have a project team, including installers, with expertise appropriate to the option selected.

Job No: 715993 Folios: 1016Operator: op19. Date: 08/03/02

Road Noise

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what budgetary provision has been made for the introduction of low noise road surfaces during the period of the 10-year plan. [41654]

Mr. Jamieson: The amount is not identified separately. On local roads the choice is a matter for local authorities. On the strategic road network, operated by the Highways Agency, the 10-year plan allows for:

the resurfacing of 60 per cent of the network with lower noise surfaces during the normal maintenance cycle including the resurfacing of all concrete roads, and for all new construction to use lower noise surfaces as a matter of course.

HOUSE OF COMMONS

Refurbishment

Ms Walley: To ask the Chairman of the Accommodation and Works Committee who provided or is providing the(a)windows and(b)doors for the refurbishment of the Norman Shaw South building.[41344]

Derek Conway: [holding answer 8 March 2002]: Wallis Joinery, Broadmead Works, Maidstone, Kent is providing the new timber windows, doors and joinery used in the refurbishment of Norman Shaw South.

Ms Walley: To ask the Chairman of the Accommodation and Works Committee what organisation provided the certification for the doors and windows for the refurbishment of the Norman Shaw South building to show that they were produced from sustainably managed sources; and if he will place a copy of these certificates in the Library. [41343]

Derek Conway: [holding answer 8 March 2002]: Wallis Joinery, the manufacturer of the new timber windows, doors and joinery for the Norman Shaw South refurbishment project, operates a Quality Assurance system. This requires its timber suppliers to provide evidence (in the form of import licences and certificates) to show that timber supplied has been legally obtained and is from sustainably managed sources. The contractor is required to provide these licences and certificates to the House. When they are received I will ensure that copies are sent to the hon. Member.

Job No: 715993 Folios: 1017Operator: op19. Date: 08/03/02

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WALES

Volunteers

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many members of his staff in each of the past two years have been granted a day's paid leave to work as a volunteer; and if he will make a statement. [39739]

Mr. Paul Murphy: The figure requested is not readily available.

Staff in my department are subject to the terms and conditions of service of the National Assembly for Wales. These allow individuals to apply for paid special leave, of up to three days per year, to participate in voluntary work.

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

End of Life Vehicles Directive

Mr. Beith: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make arrangements under the End of Life Vehicles Directive to enable owners of classic cars who dismantle them in order to re-use their parts in other vehicles to obtain a certificate of destruction and have the vehicle removed from the register. [39717]

Mr. Wilson: [holding answer 7 March 2002]: The Directive requires the setting up of a system under which the issue of a Certificate of Destruction is a necessary condition of the deregistration of an end of life vehicle. We are exploring arrangements which will accommodate classic and other cars whose owners dismantle them in order to re-use their parts.

Mr. Beith: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment she has made of the proportion of UK vehicle dismantlers who are likely to obtain registration as approved treatment centres under the End of Life Vehicles Directive. [39718]

Mr. Wilson: [holding answer 7 March 2002]: Our intention is to ensure that an adequate collection and treatment network is maintained, operating to the improved environmental standards required by the Directive, and capable of dealing properly with all end of life vehicles. Having consulted industry, we believe that there will be a sufficient number of approved facilities to achieve this. The interpretation of the minimum technical standards which will apply to treatment facilities is still being discussed by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the Environment Agency and industry, and we cannot at this stage assess precisely the proportion which will be approved.

Job No: 715993 Folios: 1018Operator: op19. Date: 08/03/02

Mr. Beith: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment she has made of the likely costs to vehicle-owners of dismantling of vehicles under the End of Life Vehicles Directive. [39719]

Mr. Wilson: [holding answer 7 March 2002]: Depollution and dismantling costs will be variable, and will depend on a number of factors, including the marque, model, age and condition of the vehicle being

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treated. Having consulted widely with industry, we estimate that the additional treatment costs required by the Directive might average around £50 per vehicle.

Mr. Beith: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment she has made of the impact on low income car owners of the costs of disposal under the End of Life Vehicles Directive. [39720]

Mr. Wilson: [holding answer 7 March 2002]: The impact upon all car owners is being taken into account as we consider the best means of implementing the Directive.

Equipment Leasing

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will list the equipment leasing arrangements entered into by her Department in each of the last four years; and what the cost to public funds in each case is. [38939]

Ms Hewitt: Information on the hire of DTI's IT equipment and office machinery is not centrally available for the first two years and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. For the two most recent years, central records indicate nearly 500 transactions with the following suppliers, by total value:

Supplier	Jan–Dec 2000	Jan–Dec 2001
Hire of IT Equipment1
Bull Finanservices PLC (BT)		£5,980
Cable & Wireless Communications		£416
International Computers Ltd (ICL)	£25,272	£56,571
Pipex Internet Ltd		£700
PNE Consulting		£201
Sierra Nova Consulting		£10,179
Thomas Telford Ltd		£2,500
Hire of Office Machinery
Action Computer Supplies	£668
AFS		£849
Anglo Financial Services	£3,164	£4,629
Aqua Cool	£426
Astron		£280
Astron Document Services Ltd		£227
Banner Business Supplies Ltd		£670
British Telecommunications plc (BT)		£2,003
BT Business Accounts	£156
BT UK Business Accounts		£539
Business Plus	£2,031	£618
Cable & Wireless Communications	£108
Canford Audio plc		£106
Canon (UK) Ltd	£5,517	£15,982
Danka UK plc	£121,956	£67,303
Danwood Finance Ltd	£10,292	£15,781
Danwood Financial Services Ltd	£36,294	£17,958
GBC UK	£649
GE Capital Equipment Finance Ltd	£3,219	£19,042
Hugo International Ltd		£1,444
Ikon Capital plc		£2,880
Ikon Office Solutions plc		£2,994
International Computers Ltd (ICL)	£2,100	£10,000
Ionics (UK) Ltd		£2,000
LMS Professions Ltd		£2,145
Minolta Rentals Ltd	£718	£859
Minolta UK Ltd	£3,650	£113
Muirhead Systems Ltd	£552
Newcourt Credit		£3,006
Repro Link	£644
Servus Facilities Management Ltd	£100
Sharp Electronics (UK) Ltd		£743
Sharp Rentals Ltd	£40,021	£16,841
SMS Imaging		£480
The Danwood Group Ltd	£28,152	£13,766
Vodaphone Corporate Limited	£125
Xerox (UK) Ltd	£228,653	£275,818
Xerox Finance Ltd	£12,748	£19,431

1 The bulk of the Department's IT equipment is not hired directly but is supplied as part of a service contract.

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