§ Mr. Prescottasked the Secretary of State for Trade how many safety inspections have been conducted by his Department's marine superintendents on British ships in each year since 1972; and if he will break down the figures into districts.
§ Mr. TebbitSafety surveys and inspections are carried out by surveyors of the marine survey service.
The main survey effort is directed towards the statutory certification of United Kingdom ships and fishing vessels: figures for these surveys for 1973–78 are shown in table I. The statutory survey safety requirements are supplemented by general inspections for which separate figures for United Kingdom ships and fishing vessels are not available 629W prior to 1975. The figures for 1975–78 are given in table II.
TABLE I: Statutory Surveys of United Kingdom Ships and Fishing Vessels Districts … … 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 Bristol Channel … … 285 204 233 260 286 264 East England … … 323 368 399 478 343 441 East Scotland … … 171 194 240 293 325 355 Liverpool … … 366 374 317 384 336 356 London … … 928 784 732 657 787 725 North East England … … 312 293 269 272 268 265 Northern Ireland … … 69 47 55 54 62 53 South and South West England … 525 576 586 573 494 592 West Scotland … … 426 375 417 403 314 378 Totals … … 3,405 3,215 3,248 3,374 3,215 3,429
TABLE II: General Inspections of United Kingdom Ships and Fishing Vessels Districts … … 1975 1976 1977 1978 Bristol Channel … … 190 140 148 96 East England … … 160 130 165 99 East Scotland … … 122 31 52 38 Liverpool … … 148 148 109 52 London … … 582 424 338 242 North East England … … 120 117 73 64 Northern Ireland … … 69 67 88 75 South and South West England … 55 34 73 33 West Scotland … … 71 94 90 27 Totals … … 1,517 1,185 1,136 726