Written question asked by Oliver Letwin (Conservative) on Wednesday, 6 February 2002, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 11 February 2002. It was answered by David Jamieson (Labour) on Monday, 11 February 2002 on behalf of the Department for Transport, Local Government and the Regions.

Dept for Transport Local Government and the Regions

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions, what progress his Department has made in relation to changing the regulations governing reflective paint on skips.

Answer: Mr. Letwin: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what progress his Department has made in relation to changing the regulations governing reflective paint on skips. [35034] Mr. Jamieson: My Department has been working with the British Standards Institution to develop a British Standard for a new generation of high-performance retroreflective materials, which will be considerably brighter than traditional products. The draft standard completed its consultation stage last month. Publication of the new standard is a matter for BSI, once technical comments have been resolved, but we hope that this will be before the end of this year. I then intend to consult on an amendment to the current regulations which would permit local authorities to specify the use of these high performance materials for markings on skips, as an alternative to using lamps in conjunction with lower grade retroreflective markings.

Secondary information