§ Mr. CousinsTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is the number of sites licensed under the procedures of the Advisory Committee on Genetic Modification; what is the distribution of these sites by region; and what is the number of visits carried out each year by the Health and Safety Executive to these sites.
§ Mr. ForthThere are currently 372 active centres that have notified the Health and Safety Executive of their intention to undertake work on genetic modification. The distribution of these centres by HSE regions is as follows:
Number Midlands 48 Wales and South West 24 North East 36 North West 25 Scotland 51 Home Counties 72 London and South West 116 During the calendar year 1990 inspectors from HSE's technology division visited 100 of these centres to carry out site inspections. The number of centres visited in calendar years 1989 and 1988 were 77 and 89 respectively.