§ Mr. Durantasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what further steps he proposes to take following his paper on the "Public Purchasing of Construction Products" presented to the building economic development committee.
§ Mr. StanleyCopies of my paper to the building EDC have been placed in the Library. It reflects the Government's view that public sector purchasers can have a major influence of the quality of British construction products, and thus on the demand for them both at home and overseas. Public sector purchasers can help to secure improvements to the range and quality of British standards and any related international standards. They can also encourage well founded independent quality assurance schemes, as they will naturally prefer to buy products which offer purchasers such protection.
The largest Government purchaser of building products is the Property Services Agency. The PSA has made significant progress in incorporating quality assurance requirements within its procurement practices. It has agreed with the British Standards Institute a list of areas where it regards the improvement of existing standards, or the development of new ones, as a priority. This list will be incorporated in the BSI's programme of work. PSA will now require certain materials and products they use to carry a BSI kitemark. Twenty-six types of products are covered by this requirement; more will be added in due course. The agency will also give preference to suitable agrément certified products for which there is no suitable standard.
The building EDC firmly supported the policy of improving the quality and marketability of British construction products and welcomes the impetus given to this by the PSA. I am now writing to representatives of major public sector purchasers to seek their active cooperation in pursuing this policy across the whole range of public procurement of construction products.