§ Mr. BowisTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what advice he has received from English Heritage about the fabric of the former Battersea power station.
§ Sir George Young[holding answer 29 January 1991]: English Heritage has not to date seen the need to offer formal advice to my right hon. Friend on the state of the fabric of Battersea power station, but have kept officials of the Department informed on the progress of their direct dealings with Mr. John Broome and his company. Mr. Broome met the chairman and officials of English Heritage last October and gave them an assurance that the company would be carrying out urgent repairs to certain parts of the building which are particularly at risk, notably the control room and the directors' staircase.
English Heritage officials have been holding monthly meetings on site with the company's agents and have continued to press for these repairs. A start has been made on them, and the company has promised to tackle the remainder very shortly. I gather that Mr. Broome hopes to start work on the leisure complex scheme, for which he holds extant planning and listed bulding consents, in the late spring or early summer, subject to raising finance and concluding negotiations with Wandsworth borough council on ancillary matters.