§ Mr. Litherlandasked the Secretary of State for the Environment, pursuant to his reply of 25 July, Official Report, columns 727–9, if he will list the two authorities which were said to have concluded that, since their Bison wall frame dwellings are variants of the design and are of only one or two storeys, they need take no action on his Department's letter of 5 October 1983.
§ Mr. Gow[pursuant to his reply, 29 October 1984, c. 866]: The authorities are Dartford and the Wrekin.
§ Mr. Cartwrightasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will now commission a general investigation of the Bison wall frame construction system by the Building Research Establishment.
§ Mr. Gow[pursuant to his reply, 30 October 1984]: I refer the hon. Member to my replies to the hon. Member for Manchester, Central (Mr. Litherland) on 25 July at columns 727–9, and to the hon. Member for Newham, South (Mr. Spearing) on 23 October, at columns 554–7.
§ Mr. Litherlandasked the Secretary of State for the Environment, pursuant to his reply of 25 July, Official Report, columns 727–9, if he will list the nine authorities 1049W which have examined their Bison wall frame dwellings for all the faults specified in his Department's letter of 5 October 1983.
§ Mr. Gow[pursuant to his reply, 29 October 1984, c. 866]: The nine authorities at that date were as follows:
- Birmingham
- Brent
- Hillingdon
- Hounslow
- Portsmouth
- Rugby
- Solihull
- Wirral
- Wyre Forest
In addition, a number of authorities had such examinations in hand. Because of variations in the design, in the case of some buildings it may not be necessary to investigate for every type of fault specified in the Department's letter of 5 October 1983.
§ Mr. Litherlandasked the Secretary of State for the Environment, pursuant to his reply of 25 July, Official Report, columns 727–9, if he will list the seven authorities which have decided to demolish their Bison wall frame buildings.
§ Mr. Gow[pursuant to his reply, 29 October 1984, c. 866]: The seven local authorities which informed the Department of their intention to demolish Bison wall frame buildings are as follows:
- Barnet
- Hillingdon
- Manchester
- Newcastle-upon-Tyne
- Nottingham
- Reading
- Sedgefield
§ Mr. Litherlandasked the Secretary of State for the Environment how many local authorities are currently believed by his Department to own Bison wall frame buildings.
§ Mr. Gow[pursuant to his reply, 29 October 1984, c. 866]: The Department's information is that 46 local authorities in England own Bison wall frame buildings of the type to which the Department's letters of 5 October 1983 and 25 July 1984 referred.
§ Mr. Litherlandasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what action was taken by his Department between 18 November 1983 and July 1984 to ensure that replies were received from all authorities to which his Department wrote on 5 October 1983 about the safety of Bison wall frame buildings.
§ Mr. Gow[pursuant to his reply, 29 October 1984, c. 866]: A letter reminding authorities of the need to reply to the letter of 5 October 1983 was sent on 19 January 1984 to those authorities which had not replied by that date.
§ Mr. Litherlandasked the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) if he will publish the report on Bison wall frame buildings prepared by the Building Research Establishment for the new towns directorate of the Department of the Environment and received by his Department in August 1978;
(2) what progress he has made in his consultations with (a) Concrete Limited, (b) Brighton borough council, (c) Elmbridge borough council and (d) Reading borough council on the release to the National Association of Bison 1050W Tenants and others of the reports on Bison wall frame buildings prepared for those bodies by the Building Research Establishment.
§ Mr. Gow[pursuant to his reply, 29 October, c. 866]: Copies of these reports are available from the Department, and copies will be placed in the Library.
§ Mr. Cartwrightasked the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) what appraisals of the Bison wall frame system of construction are currently held by his Department; and if he will arrange for these to be published at the earliest opportunity;
(2) if he will invite those local authorities which have commissioned reports on the Bison wall frame construction system to publish them at the earliest opportunity.
§ Mr. Gow[pursuant to his reply, 30 October 1984]: The Department has received from the following bodies which own Bison wall frame buildings copies of technical appraisals which were commissioned by them:
- Barnet
- Birmingham
- Bradford
- Brighton
- Eastbourne
- Elmbridge
- Hartlepool
- Hillingdon
- Hounslow
- Knowsley
- Liverpool
- Manchester
- Nottingham
- Oldham
- Portsmouth
- Preston
- Rotherham
- Rugby
- Scunthorpe
- Sedgefield
- Sunderland
- Wandsworth
- Warrington
- Windsor and Maidenhead
- Wirral
- United Kingdom Housing Trust Ltd.
There are, among papers held by the Department on behalf of the liquidators of the National Building Agency, reports by the NBA to the London borough of Islington and Reading borough council on Bison wall frame buildings in their ownership.
Where a report has been prepared or commissioned by a local authority or other body, it is for that authority or body to decide whether it should be published, though I hope that such bodies would be willing to release reports of a technical nature.
The Department has six reports prepared by the Building Research Establishment and its predecessor, the Building Research Station, for the clients named in my reply to the hon. Member for Manchester, Central (Mr. Litherland) on 26 July, at columns 802–803. Copies of these reports are available from the Department, and copies will be placed in the Library.