HC Deb 11 February 1985 vol 73 cc17-8W
Mr. Gareth Wardell

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) what information he has regarding the number of inspectors to approve applicants, and how many applicants are waiting certification for approved maintainers for British Telecom approved telephone systems following the changes of 1 January;

(2) what provision has been made for the certification of approved maintainers for British Telecom approved telephone systems following the changes of 1 January.

Mr. Butcher

In accordance with condition 8 of the class licence for the running branch telecommunication systems, (granted under section 7 of the Telecommunications Act 1984) maintenance contractors require approval under section 20 of that Act only for the purpose of maintaining telephone call routing apparatus connected to public switched telephone networks. There is no such requirement for maintainers of any other type of telecommunication apparatus.

Such approval will normally only be given when the applicant has obtained registration under the relevant scheme run by the British Standards Institution (BSI). BSI, which has supplied the following information, currently employs two assessors for dealing with applications for registration, and two inspectors for the periodic surveillance of companies once registration has been given. BSI is currently seeking to recruit a third assessor. As at 7 February 1985, 57 applications for registration were pending. In 53 of these cases BSI is awaiting action by the applicants concerned. 26 companies have been registered by BSI.

In exceptional cases, and particularly where the marketing of newly approved apparatus or of apparatus that has newly qualified for competitive maintenance is otherwise likely to be seriously delayed, approval may be granted provisionally in advance of BSI registration.

On 31 December 1984 newly-installed analogue call-routing apparatus, in the form of private branch exchanges with not more than 120 extensions and certain single exchange line systems, became eligible for competitive maintenance. On 27 September 1984, BSI had extended its registration scheme to cover maintenance of these classes of apparatus; my Department's announcement on 21 September 1984 of this extension included an invitation to apply for registration and approval.