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Building Regulations: Approved Document B

Lord Howie of Troon asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they will place a limit on the compartment size for single storey warehouse, distribution or storage premises within the Building Regulations and Approved Document B in the interests of the fire service and firefighters.[HL4393]

Lord Falconer of Thoroton: There are currently no plans to change either Part B of the Building Regulations or the approved documents that support this part so as to limit the compartment size in single storey warehouse, distribution and storage premises.

However, we are continuing to keep this issue under review. As with any new guidance within an approved document, any decision in the future with regard to single storey premises of this type would need to take account of a range of views, expert advice and of course a full regulatory impact assessment.

Lord Howie of Troon asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether the guidance on the use of sandwich panels contained in the 2000 edition of Approved Document B is mandatory; and what powers are provided to building control authorities and approved inspectors to control the selection and use of such panels.[HL4394]

Lord Falconer of Thoroton: None of the guidance contained within Approved Document B is mandatory. There is no obligation to adopt any particular solution contained in an approved document if the person carrying out the work prefers to meet the relevant requirement in some other way. Approved documents are intended to provide guidance on ways of meeting the requirements of the Building Regulations for some of the more common building situations. It is for the Building Control Body, on a case-by-case basis, to satisfy itself that the requirements of the Building Regulations have been met. In relation to sandwich panels, its considerations in such matters can be assisted by referring to the relevant guidance contained within Appendix F of Approved Document B, along with any other suitable sources of information. The powers of enforcement of the Building Regulations are set out in various sections of the Building Act 1984. Sections 35 and 36 provide the main powers for enforcement by a local authority and paragraph 52(1)(c) stipulates the course of action to be taken by an approved inspector who is of the opinion that there is a contravention of a provision of the Building Regulations.

Bovine TB

Baroness Byford asked Her Majesty's Government:

What were the total numbers of animals culled following tuberculosis testing for each of the years 1997 to 2002; and in which countries is the current infection at large.[HL4026]

22 May 2002 : Column WA102

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Lord Whitty): The information requested is not available in the format requested, in that county figures for 2002 are not yet available. All of the following information is available on the Defra website http://www.defra.gov.uk

The following table shows the number of cattle compulsorily slaughtered from 1997 to 2002.

Year	Total Cattle Compulsorily Slaughtered
1997	3,669
1998	5,884
1999 (prov)	6,772
2000 (prov)	8,353
2001 (prov)	6,229
Jan-Mar 2002 (prov raw data)	3,779

The following table shows the number of herds affected by new confirmed incidents of bovine TB in England and Wales from 1996 to 2001, broken down by county.

The number of herds affected by new confirmed incidents of bovine TB data as at 15 March 2002.

	1996	1997	1998	1999*	2000*	2001*
England
Avon	19	13	23	22	32	12
Bedfordshire	0	0	0	0	0	0
Berkshire	0	0	0	0	0	0
Buckinghamshire	0	0	0	1	2	0
Cambridgeshire	0	0	0	0	1	0
Cheshire	0	0	2	2	3	0
Cleveland	0	0	0	0	0	0
Cornwall	84	68	132	125	158	60
Cumbria	0	0	0	1	1	0
Derbyshire	3	0	7	19	10	7
Devon	68	87	100	134	183	73
Dorset	6	15	8	20	10	9
Durham	0	0	0	0	0	0
East Sussex	1	4	1	5	2	1
Essex	0	1	0	0	0	0
Gloucestershire	56	90	130	133	170	37
Greater London—E	0	0	0	0	0	0
Greater London—SE	0	0	0	0	0	0
Greater Manchester	0	0	0	0	0	0
Hampshire	0	0	0	0	0	0
Hereford & Worcester	59	79	111	128	145	63
Hertford	0	0	1	0	0	0
Humberside	0	0	0	0	0	0
Isle of Wight	0	0	0	1	0	0
Isles of Scilly	0	0	0	0	0	0
Kent	0	0	0	0	0	0
Lancashire	0	0	3	0	0	0
Leicestershire	1	0	0	0	0	0
Lincolnshire	0	0	1	0	0	0
Merseyside	0	0	0	0	0	0
Norfolk	0	0	0	0	0	0
North Yorkshire	0	0	0	1	0	0
Northamptonshire	1	0	0	0	1	0
Northumberland	1	0	2	1	2	1
Nottinghamshire	0	0	1	0	1	0
Oxfordshire	0	0	3	1	2	0
Shropshire	1	5	3	2	18	9
Somerset	14	25	36	42	62	15
South Yorkshire	0	0	0	0	1	0
Staffordshire	9	24	34	36	27	38
Suffolk	0	0	0	0	0	0
Surrey	0	0	0	0	0	0
Tyne and Wear	0	0	0	0	0	0
Warwickshire	1	0	1	0	1	1
West Midlands	0	0	0	1	0	0
West Sussex	0	0	0	0	0	0
West Yorkshire	1	0	1	0	0	0
Wiltshire	14	29	31	66	54	20
Total England	339	440	631	741	886	346
Wales
Clwyd	0	0	0	1	0	1
Dyfed	32	22	49	60	68	77
Gwent	60	27	24	36	48	18
Gwynedd	2	0	1	1	0	0
Mid Glamorgan	1	2	1	1	1	0
Powys	12	2	6	13	26	27
South Glamorgan	0	0	1	0	0	0
West Glamorgan	3	2	4	15	7	4
Total Wales	110	55	86	127	150	127

Notes:

1. Each new confirmed TB incident relates to a herd which has been TB free but which during the time period was found to have TB.

2. Although it is acknowledged that many of the counties listed no longer exist as administrative authorities, data are presented in this form in order to retain continuity for historical comparison.

*1999, 2000 and 2001 figures are provisional due to outstanding test results.

Source: Compiled from information provided by divisional veterinary managers and the department's animal health administrative database.

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State Veterinary Service

Lord Redesale asked Her Majesty's Government:

What are the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs' (a) overtime and (b) time

22 May 2002 : Column WA104

off in lieu policies for the State Veterinary Service.[HL4102]

Lord Whitty: The State Veterinary Service adheres to the departmental policies which govern overtime and time off in lieu:

prior approval to work overtime must be obtained in all cases;

managers are asked to make every effort to avoid overtime working and as far as possible ensure that it occurs only at time of exceptional pressure of work;

wherever possible, volunteers are sought and weekend overtime avoided;

a long hours culture is not encouraged, nor are regular calls on particular groups of staff; and

as an alternative to payment, time off in lieu may be taken.

Staff in the Senior Civil Service, and those who do not work set conditioned hours or whose pay already includes payment for working overtime, and fee paid staff are not eligible for overtime payments.

BSE

Lord Marlesford asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they will publish an updated table showing the number of cases of BSE confirmed in Britain each week during the calendar year 2001 and the year 2002 to date, together with the moving annual total of cases for each 52-week period.[HL4296]

Lord Whitty:

The number of cases of BSE confirmed in Great Britain during each week of 2001 and in the current year to 10 May, and the moving annual totals of "confirmed" and "reported" cases for each 52-week period

2001				2002
Week number	Number confirmed each week	52-week total confirmed	52-week total reported	Week number	Number confirmed each week	52-week total confirmed	52-week total reported
1	20	1,561	1,836	1	0	1,032	1,207
2	38	1,566	1,813	2	19	1,031	1,209
3	14	1,520	1,802	3	22	1,015	1,208
4	12	1,519	1,780	4	63	1,064	1,200
5	11	1,505	1,760	5	23	1,075	1,201
6	12	1,504	1,743	6	54	1,118	1,184
7	35	1,476	1,732	7	45	1,151	1,185
8	14	1,434	1,705	8	16	1,132	1,182
9	14	1,416	1,689	9	31	1,149	1,174
10	11	1,394	1,674	10	14	1,149	1,160
11	7	1,355	1,637	11	45	1,183	1,151
12	14	1,362	1,614	12	19	1,195	1,153
13	5	1,291	1,597	13	46	1,227	1,146
14	21	1,271	1,572	14	0	1,222	1,152
15	13	1,258	1,564	15	39	1,240	1,154
16	6	1,239	1,557	16	31	1,258	1,156
17	13	1,227	1,541	17	20	1,272	1,162
18	19	1,220	1,525	18	29	1,288	1,169
19	16	1,207	1,495	19	11	1,280	1,162
20	16	1,193	1,472
21	16	1,171	1,443
22	15	1,160	1,433
23	9	1,152	1,426
24	16	1,146	1,410
25	15	1,096	1,400
26	13	1,083	1,389
27	17	1,068	1,380
28	18	1,065	1,388
29	10	1,054	1,382
30	23	1,047	1,376
31	7	994	1,373
32	16	995	1,361
33	36	1,011	1,368
34	22	1,012	1,356
35	9	987	1,363
36	25	993	1,360
37	11	997	1,353
38	29	986	1,350
39	36	1,002	1,344
40	43	1,020	1,333
41	33	1,027	1,320
42	38	1,015	1,309
43	40	1,029	1,306
44	38	1,041	1,285
45	27	1,050	1,278
46	34	1,053	1,275
47	14	1,042	1,267
48	29	1,047	1,240
49	31	1,061	1,230
50	27	1,052	1,217
51	24	1,055	1,223
52	0	1,032	1,216

*The number of confirmed cases is increasing due to the enhanced BSE surveillance that has been carried out since July 2001. Cases found as a result of this active surveillance are not included in the number of reported cases.

22 May 2002 : Column WA105

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