Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will reclassify school notice boards as wall linings in his review of fire safety in schools.

Schools must be safe places in which to study and to work. The Department intends to set a clear standard that is practical and achievable as well as easily understood.

The Department, as part of the regular review of its standards for school buildings, has completed research into the flammability of notice boards used in schools.

The outcome of this work is currently being used to clarify the specification the Department uses in relation to noticeboards in new school buildings and will also be included in an updated version of Building Bulletin 100 (Fire Safety) which is currently under review.

The classification of materials used in construction is controlled by Building Regulations which are a matter for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.