§ 33. Mr. Madelasked the Secretary of State for Employment whether, following representations made to him by the hon. Member for South Bedfordshire concerning the proposal to demolish an APC-owned chimney in Houghton Regis, Bedfordshire, he will have urgent talks with the Health and Safety Commission and request that no such demolition takes place before the end of May 1977, in view of the need to evacuate local residents, and if permission be granted for the demolition whether through public discussion will be undertaken beforehand; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. John GrantI hope by now that the hon. Member will have received the letter dated 21st January 1977 from the Factory Inspectorate area director in which he outlines proposals for a public meeting to consider all the issues concerning the demolition of this chimney. Both locally-based and specialist members of the Factory Inspectorate are closely involved with the proposals. The Health and Safety Executive does not have unlimited power to prohibit demolition by blasting but may issue ar prohibition notice if an inspector is of the opinion there will be a risk of serious personal injury to either the workers or the general public.
The decision is a difficult one since it involves weighing the greatly increased risk to the demolition workers if the chimney is demolished by hand against the well-being of the nearby residents 542W who will be required to leave their homes for a few hours if blasting takes place.
As no final decision has been made concerning the method of demolition and all parties concerned are agreed on the thorough public discussion proposed by the hon. Member, I do not think it is appropriate for me to initiate urgent talks with the Health and Safety Commission at this stage.