§ 19. Mr. Pawseyasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress his Department has made this year on research into civil defence shelters and domestic dwelling protection; and whether the results will be made available.
§ Mr. HurdProgress has been made in designing improvised shelters, in constructing such shelters and in subjecting some of them to blast in a simulated nuclear explosion in America. We are also working on a consolidated guide to shelters made of a variety of shapes and materials. We expect to publish information on improvised shelter designs and the consolidated guide on shelter design by the end of 1984.
§ 20. Mr. Spellerasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects the new generation of radiac instruments to be available for training civil defence volunteers.
§ Mr. HurdThe new instruments are being made available to councils, police and fire services as they are produced under a three-year contract which ends in May 1986. Local authorities decide how and when volunteers should be trained, and 30 meters are available already to every county council for training purposes. A letter explaining the arrangements for distribution of the meters was sent to county councils on 11 November.
§ 28. Mr. Geoffrey Finsbergasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will take steps to ensure adequate monitoring of the performance of local authorities in carrying out their new responsibilities under the civil defence regulations.
§ Mr. HurdYes. In addition to the present monitoring procedures, my right hon. and learned Friend will seek progress reports from local authorities on the performance of their functions under the new civil defence regulations.