§ Mr. Nellistasked the Secretary of State for Employment how many factory inspectors cover which industries; and what were their numbers for each year from November 1978 to the latest available date.
§ Mr. GummerWithin Her Majesty's factory inspectorate's 21 areas, inspectors work in groups dealing locally either with a single industry or sector of employment or a group of industries. In the areas there are also national industry groups which act as a national focus for health and safety matters for a specific industry or employment sector.
About 15 per cent. of the total resources of the factory inspectorate's area staff is allocated to the inspection of construction work. In any particular area the allocation of inspectors to other industries depends both on the work load that arises in connection with an industry and its local concentration.
§ Mr. Nellistasked the Secretary of State for Employment if, pursuant to the answers to the hon. Member for Bolsover (Mr. Skinner) Official Report, 28 November, c. 408, and the hon. Member for Sheffield, Brightside (Miss Maynard) Official Report, 28 November, c. 413, he will give a breakdown of (a) the number of premises registered and (b) the number of premises visited for each of the categories of inspectors for the years 1979 to 1982; if he will give the average time between planned visits to the registered workplaces, on the same breakdown; and if he will estimate the number of inspectors that would be necessary to ensure that each such workplace was inspected annually.
§ Mr. GummerI shall reply to the hon. Member as soon as possible.