§ Mr. Llew SmithTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what initiatives his Department has taken to promote United Kingdom expertise in decontamination of soil and land reclamation.
§ Mr. McLoughlinMy Department works together with the Department of the Environment, and other bodies, on a number of activities to promote United Kingdom expertise in decontamination of soil and land reclamation. Some of these provide financial support for private sector projects in new technology—for example under the LINK, environmental technology innovation scheme and Euroenviron programmes.
DTI also promotes export opportunities in this area as part of our general support for the United Kingdom environmental industry, by improving the access of overseas firms to United Kingdom technology.
The Laboratory of the Government Chemist is active in promoting awareness of contaminated land and the need for investigation, as well as acting as a consultancy.