HC Deb 28 November 1995 vol 267 cc594-5W
Mr. Llwyd

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will discuss with Cadw what measures are required to encourage tendering by Welsh-based consultants for the surveying of historic properties; and if he will make a statement. [1087]

Mr. Gwilym Jones

The Department, of which Cadw forms a part, follows procurement procedures which promote open competition between suppliers to offer value for taxpayers' money and comply with European public procurement regulations. The procurement procedures cannot be used to discriminate in favour of Welsh companies. Of the six companies currently working on contract to Cadw, three are based in Wales. Expressions of interest were invited through the United Kingdom and Welsh press bilingually, and through theArchitects' Journal. Cadw would welcome any further expressions of interest from suitably qualified Welsh-based organisations to undertake this work.

Mr. Llwyd

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will publish in respect of(a) each district council area in Wales and (b) for Wales as a whole the number of historic buildings surveyed by Cadw for each of the last available three years, together with his estimate of the number of properties which remain to be surveyed. [1088]

Mr. Jones

Responsibility for the subject of the question has been delegated to Cadw, Welsh Historic Monuments. I have asked its chief executive, Mr. T. J. Cassidy, to reply to the hon. Member.

Letter from T. J. Cassidy to Mr. Elfyn Llwyd, dated 28 November 1995The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question in which you asked for information about the number of historic buildings surveyed by Cadw in the last 3 years and the work that remains to be done. The Government gave a commitment to accelerate the Welsh listed building resurvey programme in response to the recommendation made by the Welsh Affairs Committee which reported on the preservation of historic buildings and ancient monuments some three years ago. Since that time substantial progress has been made—the Agency has resurveyed some 78 Community Council areas. This has seen the number of listed buildings in Wales increase from 14,778 in 1992 to some 17,671 today. The completion of the resurvey by 2005 should, we estimate, see the number of listed buildings increase to roughly double today's total. We have assumed that the volume of structures to be surveyed is between 2 and 3 million, and to judge by experience in England and Scotland, would expect to list about 1½%. In undertaking a community resurvey all buildings within each community are surveyed and those which are judged to be of special architectural or historic interest are listed. The Agency does not keep statistics of the numbers of buildings assessed in each community but I hope that the number of listed buildings will give you some indication of progress to date. To complete the resurvey within the next 10 years will require the Agency to resurvey over 700 further communities—and to do so remains a priority for the Agency. I hope this is helpful.