§ 11. Mr. HanleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Energy if he will explain the detailed procedures used to ensure that offshore installations are properly designed and maintained.
§ The Minister of State, Department of Energy (Mr. Peter Morrison)Every installation in our offshore waters must be in possession of a valid certificate of fitness. To obtain that, the owner submits to one of the independent certifying authorities information to enable an assessment of the design to be carried out. The certifying authority is required to carry out a major survey of the installation and its equipment before a certificate of fitness, which is valid for up to five years, can be issued. The authority must also carry out an annual survey.
Every offshore installation and its equipment is required, under current regulations, to be properly maintained.
§ Mr. HanleyClearly, each of the steps that my right hon. Friend has set out is vital in trying to maintain safety. Can he tell the House when the technical investigation that he has set in motion over Piper Alpha is likely to be completed?
§ Mr. MorrisonThe technical investigation began almost immediately after we had announced it, which was shortly after the disaster. A lot of work has already been done and a number of people—about 90—have been interviewed. However, it must be said that some of the evidence is at the bottom of the seabed, and hence that will dictate the speed at which the investigation can proceed. However, it is the intention of those conducting that investigation to proceed as fast as they practicably can.
§ Mr. PrescottThe Secretary of State has said that safety is the first priority in the North sea. Can the right hon. Gentleman explain why the Department's report into the 1984 explosion on the Piper Alpha rig is now to be made available to the inquiry, but not available to those who have worked on that rig since 1984? What action is he now taking to reverse the decision to withdraw funds from the Institute of Oceanographic Sciences, which is a world authority on wave effects and oil rig and metal fatigue, the study of which are essential to safety in the North sea?
§ Mr. MorrisonThe hon. Gentleman has heard on many occasions that the 1984 report will be made available to Lord Cullen. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State and I said the same when we met the trade unions. It will be for Lord Cullen to decide whether to publish it, but my 13 right hon. Friend has written to him to make the points that the trade union delegation—which approached the matter in a constructive manner last week—made to my right hon. Friend and myself. The hon. Gentleman will appreciate that the Institute of Oceanographic Sciences is a matter for my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Education and Science