§ Mr. Michael Lathamasked the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) what is the staffing establishment of the section of the Building Research Establishment which deals with urban planning; for how long this section has been in existence; and what is its budget for research work for the current financial year;
(2) why the Building Research Establishment is carrying out research into (a) the growth of new towns, (b) employment in the inner areas of conurbations and (c) the experience and attitudes of mobile home residents and site operators; what connection these subjects have with the more technical research into building problems with which the BRE is basically concerned; and what effective feed-back the reports are likely to provide for designers and contractors.
§ Mr. FreesonThe establishment has been active in the urban planning field for some 10 years. There is now a staff complement of 31 for this work, and a budget for the current year of £350,000. There are also some 14 staff engaged on various aspects of housing policy, mostly within the Urban Planning Division. The work is carried out in support of the Department's interests and responsibilities in urban planning and housing, and finds application mainly through those in central and local government concerned with these matters. The BRE work forms part of the Department's wider research programme in these fields and is complementary to the establish-670W ment's more traditional work on building technology.
§ Mr. Michael Lathamasked the Secretary of State for the Environment how many of the 37 staff described on page 54 of the annual report of the BRE as being concerned with "human sciences" have degrees or other relevant qualifications in sociology; and what was the equivalent number of staff in this category for each of the last five years.
§ Mr. Freeson21 have degrees or qualifications in sociology, social administration, or other social sciences. Comparable figures for earlier years are not available without incurring undue expenditure.