Written question asked by Gerald Howarth (Conservative) on Tuesday, 23 November 2004, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 9 December 2004. It was answered by Ivor Caplin (Labour) on Thursday, 9 December 2004 on behalf of the Ministry of Defence.

Ministry of Defence

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what plans he has to decontaminate those of his Department's files which have become contaminated by asbestos; and what he estimates the cost of such decontamination to be. - Inc no figures.

Answer: Mr. Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has to decontaminate those of his Department's files which have become contaminated by asbestos; and what he estimates the cost of such decontamination to be. [199851] Mr. Caplin: A project board has been set up to consider the options open to the Ministry of Defence that would enable files, previously stored in an asbestos contaminated environment, to be safely handled. The board is chaired by the MOD's departmental records officer and includes representatives from several Ministry of Defence branches together with a representative from the National Archives. A number of options are under consideration, with plans at an advanced stage for a short pilot project, to commence early in 2005. At the conclusion of this work possible solutions, together with projected costs, will be evaluated. It is not possible reliably to estimate the cost in advance of the pilot project.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 199851; 428 c685-6W
Session: 2004-05
Subjects: Costs Asbestos Archives Contamination Ministry of Defence Departmental records
Contains statistics: Yes
Link: View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk