asked Her Majesty's Government:

Further to the Written Answer by the Minister of State for Local Environment, Marine and Animal Welfare on 2 February (Official Report, 614W), what basic assumptions are being tested for validity in the further work required to eliminate flaws in the life cycle assessment of disposable and reusable nappies in the United Kingdom.[HL4508]

The further work is not testing the validity of the basic assumptions in the original life cycle assessment. It is analysing disposable and reusable products for 2006 and looking at some ways the various nappies would be used to see how these affect the environmental impacts, such as how they are washed, whether they are pre-soaked and how they are dried. The findings for the different types of reusable nappies and modern disposables will then be compared.