§ Ms ShipleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how her Department is meeting the objectives of the Better Public Buildings Initiative. [65071]
§ Mr. MorleyDEFRA has demonstrated commitment to the Better Public Buildings initiative by publishing an Action Plan on the Departmental intranet. The quality of the Department's limited programme of new projects is benchmarked against the objectives and commitments set out within it.
I have personally sponsored two projects, one of which has been entered for the Prime Minister's Better Public Building Award. Another recent project has been commended for its design by the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment.
DEFRA will keep its Better Public Buildings Action Plan under review and proposes to adopt the Design Quality Indicator System for the measurement of overall design standards.