§ Mr. DobsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Energy what is the earliest year for which he can differentiate between prosecutions mounted against operators in the North sea which resulted from(a) inspections and (b) accidents; and what are the figures for that year and each subsequent year.
§ Mr. WakehamInformation is not kept in a form by which prosecutions resulting from inspections and from accidents can be distinguished without disproportionate cost.
The six convictions of companies for breaches of health and safety legislation in 1987, 1988 and 1989 all resulted from accidents.
§ Mr. DobsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Energy what is the earliest year for which he can, without incurring disproportionate cost, give the percentage of serious accidents on North sea installations which have been investigated by his inspectors; and what was the percentage in that year and each subsequent year.
§ Mr. WakehamAccident data are not kept in a form from which the information requested can be extracted without disproportionate cost.
§ Mr. DobsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Energy what is the earliest year for which he can give the total spent on the North sea safety inspectorate of his Department without incurring disproportionate cost; and what is the figure for that year and subsequent years at constant prices.
§ Mr. WakehamRunning costs for the safety directorate for the period 1989–90 were of the order of £7.2 million. Figures for earlier years cannot be separately identified.
§ Mr. DobsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Energy, further to his answer of 21 November to the hon. Member for Holborn and St. Pancras,Official Report, column 150, how the 475 technical staff referred to are broken down between the six certifying authorities.
§ Mr. WakehamThe information requested by the hon. Member is as follows:
Certifying Authority Number of Technical Staff Employed Lloyd's Register of Shipping 275 Bureau Veritas 20 American Bureau of Shipping 70 Det Norske Veritas 90 Germanischer Lloyd 8 Offshore Certification Bureau 12 475
§ Mr. DobsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Energy whether the serious accidents referred to in his answer of 21 November,Official Report, column 149, to the hon. Member for Holborn and St. Pancras, represent the numbers seriously injured or the number of incidents involving serious injury.
416W
§ Mr. WakehamThe numbers of serious accidents referred to in my answer of 21 November represents the numbers of persons injured.