§ Mr. D. E. Thomasasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he has made any assessment of the effect on the provision of services by the Health and Safety Executive of cutting back on the expenditure of the executive by (a) 10 per cent., (b) 15 per cent. and (c) 20 per cent.
§ Mr. Mayhew[pursuant to his reply, 23 January 1980]: At his request, the Health and Safety Commission let my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State have its views on the effect on its activities and those of the Health and Safety Executive of reductions in expenditure on staff of 10 per cent., 15 per cent. and 20 per cent. His assessment was that reductions of that magnitude would have too serious an effect on essential services, but that a smaller reduction could be sustained.
In the event, the Government's decision was that there should be a reduction of about 2.2 million—approximately 6 per cent.—in staff expenditure by the year 1982–83.