HC Deb 17 December 2001 vol 377 cc129-31W
Mr. Sayeed

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what research the Government are conducting into the use of sustainable timber. [21671]

Mr. Morley

The Government have commissioned research into the scale and variety of timber and timber products being purchased to meet the operational requirements of central Government Departments and their agencies. Three Departments and three agencies have been selected as samples to reflect the range of activities involved. The research is due to be completed by the end of May 2002 and should help the Government in implementing their timber procurement policy by identifying options for guidance that will be made available to its own buyers and to the wider public sector.

Mr. Sayeed

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on the progress of the Government's plans to use sustainable timber only, whenever possible, as part of the materials used in the construction of public buildings. [21670]

Mr. Morley

The Third Annual Report on Greening Government, published on 27 November 2001 and available on the internet http: //www.sustainable-development.gov.uk includes information on timber purchase by Department as well as information on overall progress towards implementing the Government's policy on purchasing timber from sustainable and legal sources. That report covers activities undertaken during the financial year ended 31 March 2001. Since then the Government have commissioned consultants to undertake research and report on options for further assisting their buyers to actively seek to purchase timber and timber products from sustainable and legal sources.

The Government are working with stakeholders in producing countries to encourage sustainable forest management as well as tackling illegal logging. The UK was instrumental in organising a ministerial conference in Indonesia this year to address forest law enforcement and governance in East Asia. This produced the real prospect of bilateral agreements to secure more effective controls. A similar conference is planned to address the same issues in Africa next year. These international initiatives are intended to help to reduce the volume of illegally logged timber entering the UK and to effectively create more demand for sustainable timber in construction projects and more generally across both the public and private sectors within the UK.

Mr. Sayeed

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of her Department in encouraging Government Departments to take part in the pilot project to use only wood from sustainable sources. [21669]

Mr. Morley

This Department has accepted, on behalf of the Government, an offer made by the World Wide Fund for Nature to assist the Government in their efforts to source timber from sustainable and legal sources when a suitable project can be identified. The Department has written to Heads of Procurement in the major central Government Departments to advise them of the offer made by WWF. To date no Department has come forward to suggest a suitable project. The Department will continue to engage the inter-departmental working group on timber procurement in searching for a suitable project.

Mr. Sayeed

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps she plans to take to implement her Department's policy of using only sustainable timber for public buildings. [21672]

Mr. Morley

The Government are working with the timber trade, environmental pressure groups and other stakeholders to encourage a greater demand for sustainable timber across all sectors of the economy. The Government are also working with many stakeholders in different producer countries to promote sustainable forest management as well as tackling illegal logging.

For their own operational activities the Government are committed to actively seek to purchase the timber and timber products they need from legal and sustainable sources. To this end Government buyers have been instructed to implement this policy and to report annually on their purchases. An interdepartmental working group is monitoring progress and will provide further guidance and advice to that already provided to buyers in our Green Guide for Buyers and elsewhere on the Greening Government website http: //www.defra.gov.uk/environment/greening/gghome.htm. The Government's approach should help to transform the market into supplying more timber and timber products from sustainable managed sources. The Third Annual Report on Greening Government, published on 27 November 2001 and available on the internet http: //www.sustainable-development.gov.uk includes information on timber purchase by Department as well as information on overall progress towards implementing the Government's policy on purchasing timber from sustainable and legal sources. More generally, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has recently set up a Sustainable Procurement Group of officials to consider how Government policies on sustainable development can be more effectively implemented through the Government's own procurement activities.