HC Deb 12 November 1996 vol 285 c104W
Mr. Raynsford

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, pursuant to his answer of 5 November,Official Report, column 463, if he will list the criteria for the future operation of the Building Research Establishment specified by him in April which were not satisfied by the proposal from the Construction Industry Council for a national centre for construction. [3566]

Mr. Robert B. Jones

My answer of 5 November made it clear that our judgment related to whether the package of proposals put forward by the Construction Industry Council provided a basis on which to take forward single tender sale negotiations, rather than whether the proposal for a national centre met particular criteria. It would be wrong, in any event, to enter into discussion about the merits of the NCFC proposal, when the Construction Industry Council bid for BRE, at its request, remains available for consideration, in competition with other bids that may come forward.