§ Mr. Gordon PrenticeTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what recent assessment he has made of the threat to buildings and subterranean structures in London posed by sinking ground levels. [43811]
§ Ms KeebleThe intensity of subsidence reported in the press is very minor and is unlikely to cause damage. It is several orders of magnitude less than that experienced in the coalfields and damage is much more likely to occur from shrinking and swelling of clay subsoils in London than from subsidence at the level reported.
Subsidence from tunnelling operations is well known and it is taken into account in the design of tunnelling operations. Where necessary, such operations include mitigation measures to reduce the effects of subsidence to below the level likely to cause damage. The levels
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Local Authority dwellings repurchased by local authorities—Buyback scheme 1998–99 April to June 1999 July to September 1999 October to December 1999 January to March 2000 Government office region — — — — — North East 8 5 2 1 0 North West 9 4 1 0 5 Yorkshire and the Humber 26 2 1 12 4 East Midlands 0 0 0 0 0 West Midlands 3 0 0 0 5 East 10 3 0 0 8 London 15 4 3 3 5 South East 15 5 1 13 2 South West 14 0 2 3 7 England 100 23 10 32 36 reported from the Jubilee Line extension are consistent with those recorded by monitoring subsidence during and after construction.