§ Mr. Maddenasked the Secretary of State for Employment how many visits to countries within the EEC have been made by personnel employed by the Health and Safety Commission and its Executive; what is the total cost of such visits; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. John GrantI refer my hon. Friend to the reply given to the hon. Member for Aberdeen, South (Mr. Sproat) on 9th January. [Vol. 941, c.640.] Members of the Health and Safety Executive attend meetings to consider and negotiate European Community proposals dealing with occupational safety and health. The main burden of this work is concerned with EEC directives of which approximately 60 are in various stages of development. Other visits are made by experts to participate in the development of Community policy on occupational health and safety. Visits to countries within the EEC are, of course, sometimes made for purposes other than Community business, but statistics of such visits could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.