§ Q23. Mr. Hooleyasked the Prime Minister if he will make clear where ministerial responsibility lies for the supervision in the public interest of hazardous industrial processes.
§ The Prime MinisterYes. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Home Department has responsibilities for the manufacture and storage of explosives and the licensing arrangements for the storage of petroleum spirit and certain other dangerous substances. Much of the day-to-day work in these fields is carried out by local authorities.
Responsibility for questions of pollution and for nuclear and mining processes rests with my right hon. Friends the Secretaries of State for the Environment and Energy respectively.
My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Employment has responsibility for all other industrial processes so far as they affect the safety and health of workers within a plant and also advises local planning authorities about certain major industrial risks.
The Health and Safety at Work etc. Bill which has just received its Third Reading will establish a Health and Safety Commission within which the present safety responsibilities of the various Inspectorates will be unified so as to provide stricter control of hazardous industrial processes in the public interest.