HC Deb 07 July 1976 vol 914 cc580-1W
Mr. Michael Latham

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) what is the proposed staffing establishment of the new Building Integrity Division of the Building Research Establishment, which he announced in answer to the hon. Member for Gravesend (Mr. Ovenden) on 24th June; what will be the rank of the head of the division; whether he will report directly to the director; and to which committee the division will report;

(2) what is the proposed budget for the new Building Integrity Division of the Building Research Establishment for the present financial year; and whether he is satisfied that it will be adequately financed to discharge its objectives immediately;

(3) whether it is intended that the Building Integrity Division of the Building Research Establishment will also seek to reduce the incidence of failures of design, where the product or technique was not itself faulty but the design of it was; and, if so, whether he will discuss the methods of implementing this with the professional institutions of architects and engineers;

(4) whether the staff of the Building Integrity Division of the Building Research Establishment will be recruited from within the existing staff of the establishment; and, if so, whether he will give an assurance that they will be employed full time on their duties, and not also continue with their previous responsibilities, unless he is satisfied that they are able to discharge both effectively and, in particular, give real and early impetus to the work of the new division.

Mr. Freeson

The new division will be headed by a senior principal scientific officer reporting to the deputy director. It will have initially a full-time staff of six, but present plans envisage expansion to a staff of 15. Recruitment will be mainly from present staff of the establishment, without any overall increase in its staff strength. The proposed budget of £86,000 is thought adequate for the present year but is expected to increase subsequently.

The division's programme will be considered by the Department's Research Requirement Committee on Building Regulations and Control and progress will be reported to the establishment's advisory committee. Design faults will be dealt with, in consultation with appropriate external interests.