New Clause 16
Housing and Regeneration Bill
2:15 pm
Nick Hurd (Whip, Whips; Ruislip - Northwood, Conservative)
I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time.
I am conscious of the fact that my name sits in splendid isolation above new clause 16. I hope in the next few minutes to galvanise some support across the Committee for the need to press the Government to reach a judgment and possibly a decision on a possible risk attached to the Bill’s objective, which my right hon. Friend the Member for North-West Hampshire correctly described as a step change in the output of housing in this country. It poses a fundamental question of values for the Government about the degree to which we are prepared to take risks with public health in meeting that objective. The purpose of the clause is straight forward; to impose a duty on the Homes and Communities Agency to consider the risks to health arising from what are known as extremely low frequency electromagnetic fields when carrying out its functions, particularly in respect of the location and development of housing. I do not know how many scientists or engineers are on the Committee, but I needed some help in defining electromagnetic fields. In the cross-party inquiry into childhood leukaemia and extremely low frequency electromagnetic fields published in July 2007 on which I had the pleasure of serving they are
“electric fields and magnetic fields are created by the generation and transmission of electricity. The term EMF is used to describe the mixture of these fields to which people are exposed. Major sources of EMF in our environment include High-Voltage Overhead Transmission Lines”
and
“electricity sub-stations”.
The thorny problem facing us and the Government arises from growing evidence of an association—I use that word very carefully for the Minister—between an increased risk of childhood leukaemia and the location of homes and, while we are about it, schools. The Committee should be aware that childhood leukaemia is now the most common childhood cancer, accounting for a third of all childhood cancer cases. Around 500 children are diagnosed every year and, although survival rates have improved, the incidence has been increasing; indeed, it doubled between the 1970s and the 1990s. So, it is a big deal. As we pointed out in the inquiry, there maybe many factors causing childhood leukaemia, we do not know enough. The inquiry chairman, the hon. Member for Dartford (Dr. Stoate), who, as the House is aware, is a practising GP, states:
“Current scientific thinking is that childhood leukaemia is likely to have more than one cause and there may be many factors in the development of the disease.”
As I will point out, there is growing evidence for an association and therefore, we should be very careful about the risks associated with pylons. I will set out the key milestones in the accumulation of evidence. In 2004 the Health Protection Agency recommended that the Government
“consider the need for further precautionary measures to reduce public exposure to EMF”.
In 2005, the groundbreaking Draper report, of which the Minister will be aware, funded by the Department of Health found that children living within 200 m of high-voltage power lines from birth, had a 69 per cent. increased risk of developing leukaemia in childhood. That is a very big number. In response to the Health Protection Agency, the Department of Health set up the Stakeholder Advisory Group on Extremely Low Frequency Electromagnetic Fields—SAGE—in 2005 to make recommendations to Government on practical precautionary measures to reduce public EMF exposure from sources such as high-voltage power lines. It published its first interim assessment in April 2007. It identified a ban on building new homes and schools within specified distances of power lines as the
“best available option for obtaining significant exposure”
from power lines. SAGE was followed by the cross-party inquiry, on which I served, into childhood leukaemia and the association with extremely low-frequency EMF—defined as electromagnetic fields with a frequency of between 30 and 300 Hz, which is the rate specified in the clause that I have moved today. The inquiry also recommended a moratorium on building new homes and schools within specified distances of these transmission lines. In 2007 the Government referred the SAGE report back to the Health Protection Agency for guidance. The HPA has issued guidance on the report and our inquiry, stating that there are a number of epidemiological studies showing an association between living close to high-voltage power lines and a small excess of childhood leukaemia. The Health Protection Agency recommended that the attention of local authority planning departments and the electricity companies be drawn to the evidence for a possible small increase in childhood leukaemia that may result from siting new buildings very close to power lines.
There is a steady development of evidence and recommendations have been put before the Government, which they are now mulling over. The Minister of State, Department of Health, the right hon. Member for Bristol, South (Dawn Primarolo), who deals with public health, is on the record as saying that her Department will consider the advice in consultation with other Departments, the devolved Administrations and the HPA.
The Minister here today, in response to Children with Leukaemia, wrote saying,
“This issue obviously needs serious thought and we will be in touch with you once we have shaped our thinking in the light of all the advice that has now emerged.”
I am aware that this is a highly complicated and thorny issue with implications for some of the policy responses to the recommendations, not least in terms of the implications for land values. I am aware of that because we addressed those matters in our inquiry.
The Bill provides an opportunity for adopting in a robust and real way the precautionary principle. If the Minister has any doubt about the popular support for that, I refer him to a series of early-day motions tabled in this Parliament: early-day motion 403, which refers to concern about the increase of leukaemia related to proximity to power lines, was signed by 233 Members of Parliament and early-day motion 1784 was signed by 146 MPs.
We spent some time in our inquiry gauging public opinion on this matter, with the help of the Children with Leukaemia charity. A survey from Opinion Leader research showed that three out of five people surveyed were concerned about the effects of electromagnetic fields on health and three out of four people surveyed thought that preventive action should be taken to protect children from EMF exposure.
I urge the Minister to be bold. I know that he is a sensitive man: he and I carved exotic animals out of blocks of ice one afternoon recently. Sensitivity is not enough at this stage. In the face of growing evidence, we need to take this issue seriously. It is time for the Government to take a view and communicate it. The simple question is, do the Government acknowledge the risk and, if so, why should we take any?