Mr. Jim Callaghanasked the Secretary of State for Employment (1) how many visits have been made by the factory inspectors to industrial premises in the Rochdale county district in each of the years 1975, 1976, 1977 and 1978, respectively;
(2) how many visits have been made by the factory inspectors to industrial premises in the Bury county district in each of the years 1975, 1976, 1977 and 1978, respectively.
601W
§ Mr. John Grant:I am informed by the chairman of the Health and Safety Commission that information on visits paid by factory inspectors is no longer kept in relation to individual local authority areas. The Greater Manchester area of Her Majesty's Factory Inspectorate comprises the metropolitan county of Greater Manchester and includes the district councils of the city of Manchester, city of Salford, Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tameside and Wigan. The total of visits by inspectors to premises under the Factories Act, the Offices, Shops and Railway Premises Act and the Health and Safety at Work, etc. Act was 12,477 in 1975, 9,097 in 1976 and 9,668 in 1977. There were changes in boundaries of the HMFI area between 1975 and 1976 which affect comparability of the figures. The figures for 1978 are not yet available