§ Mr. Woolmerasked the Minister for Trade when he set up an inquiry into the manning and health and safety levels of British ships; what are the terms of reference of the inquiry and who is conducting it; with which countries he is making comparisons; and what kinds of comparisons are being made.
§ Mr. SproatI have not set up an inquiry, but I have instructed my officials to carry out work—further to the data already available from outside sources — on comparing manning on United Kingdom registered ships with that on similar ships in other European fleets.