§ Mr. Maddenasked the Secretary of State for Employment how many prosecutions have been taken on indictment under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 during the years 1975 to date; to what date each of the charges relates; what was the date of the committal proceedings; on what date the final hearing at the Crown court took place; and, if any of these periods have exceeded six months, what was the reason.
§ Mr. John GrantI am advised by the Chairman of the Health and Safety Commission that 18 cases have been heard on indictment from 1st January 1975 to date, for offences under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. Dates for these cases are given in the attached table.
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TABLE OF DATES OF CASES Case No. Date of Offence Date of Committal Date of Trial 1 … … 14th April 1975 31st October 1975 27th November 1975 2 … … 11th June 1975 29th January 1976 19th March 1976 3 … … 24th May 1975 22nd April 1976 11th June 1976 4 … … 5th February 1975 26th September 1975 14th June 1976 5 … … 3rd December 1975 17th May 1976 30th June 1976 6* … … Between 8th March 1976 and 31st March 1976 22nd February 1977 22nd February 1977 7* … … Between 8th March 1976 22nd February 1977 22nd February 1977 8* … … 11th May 1976 27th February 1977 27th February 1977 19* … … 28th January 1977 17th June 1977 17th June 1977 0 … … Between 24th March 1976 and 30th April 1976 6th May 1977 20th June 1977 11 … … Between 24th March 1976 and 30th April 1976 6th May 1977 20th June 1977 12 … … 8th January 1976 15th May 1977 12th September 1977 13 … … 6th February 1976 15th July 1977 12th September 1977 14 … … Between 1st April 1976 and 7th January 1977 9th December 1977 10th January 1978 15 … … Between 1st April 1976 and 7th January 1977 9th December 1977 10th January 1978 16 … … Between 1st April 1976 and 7th January 1977 9th December 1977 10th January 1978 17 … … 4th November 1975 13th October 1977 16th January 1978 18 … … 18th March 1976 10th November 1977 6th February 1978 * Cases Nos. 6 to 9 were Scottish cases, where the sheriff proceeded directly at "pleading diet" on a pleas of guilty. In cases Nos. 1, 2 and 4 the delay of slightly more than six months arose from the complexity of the cases. The further delay between committal and trial in case No. 4 was because it was put back in the list by the Crown Court several times to give priority to the cases of defendants in custody.
In Case No. 3, the investigating inspector had considerable difficulty in obtaining sufficient corroborative evidence, as most of the witnesses were casual workers and there was difficulty in tracing them and obtaining statements.
As cases Nos. 6 to 9 were to be heard in Scotland their conduct was a matter for the procurator fiscal.
In cases Nos. 10 to 18 the delay between the date of offence and date of committal was due to the fact that the validity of inspectors' appointments was challenged in 1976, following the dismissal of a case on this ground. The issue was not resolved until 17th March 1977, when the Divisional Court reversed the magistrates' decision on appeal. In the meantime many courts were reluctant to hear cases on information by Her Majesty's inspectors and it took some time after the Divisional Court decision to clear the backlog.