§ Mr. Hannamasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he is now able to extend building regulations giving access to all floors of office buildings to disabled people; and if he will extend this to shops later on in the current year when the revised British Standards Institute shops code has been published.
§ Mr. GowBefore my right hon. Friend can make any new building regulations, he is obliged to consult those described in section 9 of the Public Health Act 1961. I am considering whether we should now consult on the possibility of making regulations to require all floors of new offices and shops to be made accessible to disabled people. It remains my objective, as soon as satisfactory regulations can be made, to apply them to all floors of all buildings intended to be open to the public.