§ Dr. David Clarkasked the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) what is the estimated annual cost of repairs and maintenance to buildings as a result of deposited acidity in the United Kingdom;
(2) if he will list in the Official Report those historic or listed buildings known to his Department as being deleteriously affected by acid deposition;
(3) if he will list the cathedrals and similar buildings in the United Kingdom known to his Department to have stained glass windows with damage attributable to acid deposition.
§ Mr. Patrick JenkinAs I said in answer to the hon. Member for Knowsley, North (Mr. Kilroy-Silk) on 14 March, at column 214, acid deposition is not the sole cause 73W of environmental acidification, and the damage that it causes cannot readily be distinguished from other forms of damage. It is not, therefore, possible to estimate the annual cost of repairs and maintenance resulting from such deposition. My Department has a substantial programme of monitoring and research, and I expect reports within the next 16 months which should help in defining the scale of the problem and in elucidating its causes.