§ Mr. Goldingasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what steps he will take to ensure that lifts in buildings contain emergency telephones which can be used by people wearing hearing aids; and if he will make a statement.
§ Sir George YoungMy right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has no plans to make a general requirement of this kind. However, the licences for the running of branch communications systems granted by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry on 3 August 1984 oblige the many organisations which have lifts in their buildings to which the public have access to take reasonable steps as soon as they can to ensure that any telephone installed in such a lift is capable of being 99W inductively coupled to hearing aids. This obligation is also being imposed on organisations who are operating their telecommunications networks under individual licences.