§ Mr. Skeetasked the Secretary of State for Employment when the final report of the advisory committee on asbestos will be published; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. PriorThe third and final report of the advisory committee on asbestos has been published today, and copies have been placed in the Library.
The report is issued in two volumes, the first comprising the main text with, for convenience, a summary of the recommendations made in the two previous reports on particular aspects of asbestos, and the second containing papers commissioned by the advisory committee and used in preparing its final report with a list of those who have given evidence. A leaflet summarising the recommendations from all three reports is also available.
Since their appointment in 1976 by the Health and Safety Commission with the agreement of Ministers, members of the advisory committee—who represented a wide range of interests concerned with asbestos—have provided and received a large volume of information on a subject which has not previously been studied in such a systematic way. I and my colleagues are grateful to the members of the committee for the work they have done in preparing these reports, in particular their final report, which is an important contribution to improving health and safety in and outside the work place.
I understand that the Health and Safety Commission will be inviting comments on the report and, when these have been studied, will advise Ministers on the development of future policy towards asbestos.