Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills pursuant to his statement of 3 December 2010, Official Report, column 1154, when the Government intends to publish its review of the available evidence about the potential effects of moving to central European time in the UK.
Answer
As daylight saving is a recurring topic in Parliament and among the wider public, the Government decided that a short study should be conducted to review the scope, quality and robustness of the available evidence concerning putting the clocks forward by one hour, the year round, in the UK. A contract is being advertised for an independent research body/organisation to conduct the study which will be published in due course.However, as the Prime Minister has made clear, a change should only occur if there was UK wide consensus. The Government would not expect to make any change if there was clear opposition from any part of the UK.