HC Deb 03 December 1974 vol 882 c1339
11. Mr. Duffy

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if a decision has been taken on the siting of the office of the Health and Safety Commission.

The Under-Secretary of State for Employment (Mr. Harold Walker)

No, Sir. My right hon. Friend has asked the commission to study thoroughly the question of the ultimate location of its headquarters and to advise him as soon as it is able to do so.

Mr. Duffy

Is my hon. Friend aware that only the siting of the commission in the city of Sheffield, for which the city is peculiarly well suited, will remove from local authorities elsewhere in the Yorkshire and Humberside Region a sense of total neglect at the hands not only of Hardman but of those who have subsequently taken decisions on the dispersal of Government jobs?

Mr. Walker

I well understand my hon. Friend's views about the need to disperse Government work to Yorkshire and Humberside. With regard to the location of the commission, I am sure that my hon. Friend will appreciate the need to consult the commission, which was only recently established. The attractions of the city of Sheffield will not be overlooked when we make the decision.