HC Deb 11 January 1977 vol 923 cc483-4W
Mr. Rooker

asked the Secretary of State for Employment how many copies of the booklet "Safety Representatives and Safety Committees" have been printed, distributed and sold since publication.

Mr. John Grant,

pursuant to his reply [Official Report, 10th January 1977], gave the following information:

I am informed by the Chairman of the Health and Safety Commission that a total of 53,300 copies of the booklet "Safety Representatives and Safety Committees" have been printed for sale by Her Majesty's Stationery Office. The total number of copies sold through Her Majesty's Stationery Office to date is 42,681 and the total number distributed through the Health and Safety Executive to parties involved in the consultative process, to the inspectorates, to the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service and to people who volunteered comment at the consultative stage is 6,885.

Mr. Rooker

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement regarding the delay in publication of the report of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Factories for the year 1975.

Mr. John Grant,

pursuant to his reply [Official Report, 10th January 1977], gave the following information:

The requirement that annual reports of the proceedings of factory inspectors should be laid before Parliament was repealed by the Factories Act 1961 etc. (Repeals and Modifications) Regulations 1974. Since the introduction of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, the Health and Safety Commission and its Executive have given considerable thought to the form which the publication of their activities, including those of their inspectorates, should take. It has been decided that a series of industrial sector reports should replace the previous Chief Inspectors' reports. The sector report covering, amongst other things, the material previously appearing in the report of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Factories has been presented to the Executive. In the past, the report of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Factories has been laid in the October following the year reported on. I understand that this year's sector report has taken longer to produce, being the first in the new series. Its publication is expected in February. I have arranged for copies to be placed in the Library of the House.