§ Ms WalleyTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will reconsider his decision to delay the implementation of pollution controls on volatile organic compound emissions; and if he will make a decision. [20878]
§ Mr. ClappisonNo. The decision, announced last June, was justified pending the review of the relevant statutory guidance notes. It avoided industry incurring what might prove to be unnecessary expenditure. We are well on138W course to achieving a 30 per cent. reduction in volatile organic compound emissions by 1999 in accordance with the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe VOC protocol. This reduction will not be compromised by the extension to the implementation time-scale.