§ Mr. Lathamasked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he will make a statement on the work to date of the new panel of visitors advising the Building Research Establishment which he announced to the House on 28 July 1983; and whether he will list the names of those serving on the panel.
§ Sir George YoungThe constitution, terms of reference and operation of the BRE visitors panel are agreed and appointments are now completed. The following will serve as panel members:
- Dr. R. E. Rowe, CBE
- Professor R. W. K. Honeycombe, FRS
- K. Newman, BSc, MICE
- D. Quinion, BSc
- P. A. Green, BSc, FICE
- D. W. Lazenby, DIC, FICE, FIStructE
235 - C. Izzard, FCIBS
- Professor V. B. Torrance
- D. Lush
- Professor P. Gray, FRS
- Dr. W. A. Allen, CBE, FRIBA
- Sir Kenneth Holland, CBE, QFSM
- Dr. D. S. Belford Professor
- T. Markus Dr. W. W L. Chan
First official visits are scheduled for June—July.
§ Mr. Lathamasked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he will make a statement on progress to date on transferring the facilities of the Princes Risborough laboratory to the Building Research Establishment, Garston; what is the programme of work for 1984–85 of the laboratory; what financial and staffing resources have been allocated specifically for timber research during the 1984–85 financial year; and how they compare with the 1983–84 outturn.
§ Sir George YoungRegarding the move of the Princes Risborough laboratory, further detailed studies for accommodating the full range of PRL facilities at Garston have been completed and a satisfactory scheme has been agreed. I have recently received a deputation from trade union representatives who wished to represent to me their views on the proposal to move PRL. I have decided that the move should be made. The current programme envisages completion by autumn 1987.
The 1984–85 programme of work of the Princes Risborough laboratory will be described in the Building Research Establishment's research programme 1984–85 which is due to be published on 8 June. I will send my hon. Friend a copy of this publication.
Thirty-four staff will be working on timber research in the 1984–85 financial year compared with 31 staff last year. BRE's outturn expenditure on timber research in 1983–84 was £1,075,210 including the costs of work carried out in-house and that carried out externally. The comparable figure for 1984–85 will be approximately £1,248,000.