§ Mr. Litterickasked the Secretary of State for Employment to what causes he attributes the fall in the number of prosecutions under industrial health and safety regulations in the Midlands—Birmingham—area during the last six months of 1975.
§ Mr. Harold WalkerI am informed by the Chairman of the Health and Safety Commission that the reduction in the270W number of prosecutions taken in the Midlands (Birmingham) Division of Her Majesty's Factory Inspectorate during the period 1st January 1975 to 30th June 1975 is associated with the acquisition of new powers under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, which came into force on 1st January 1975. The power conferred on inspectors by Sections 21 and 22 of the 1974 Act to issue improvement and prohibition notices has provided an alternative method of enforcement, and in the period 271W under review 197 notices were issued in the Division.
There is already a widespread local awareness of the notice procedure and of the legal sanctions which underlie it, an awareness encouraged by the compact nature of the area and the character of much of the industry.