§ Mr. Wakehamasked the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) if he will list in the Official Report all cases of expenditure over £10,000 authorised by his Department since 1st January 1975 in which mechanical services such as air-conditioning and lifts have been or are being installed in public buildings at a standard above the specification laid down by the British Standards Institution; and why such expenditure was approved;
(2) if he will list in the Official Report all cases of expenditure over £10,000 authorised by his Department since 1st January 1975 in which mechanical services such as air-conditioning and lifts have been or are being installed in public buildings at a standard above the specification laid down by the British Standards Institution where the existing facilities conformed to such standards; and why such expenditure was approved.
§ Mr. ArmstrongThe information re-required to answer this Question is not available centrally and could not be obtained without detailed technical scrutiny of each job costing more than £10,000 authorised since January 1975. It is the Department's general policy to work to relevant British Standard Specifications, many of which are applicable to individual components and not to complete installations. Occasionally it may be economical to approve a higher standard than the acceptable minimum to achieve a lower life cycle cost.
If the hon. Member would like to have information about any particular installation I shall, of course, be glad to look into it.