§ Lord Lloyd of Kilgerranasked Her Majesty's Government:
What specific steps they have taken, or propose to take, to encourage member states of the European community to close steel works and cut back capacity as stated in their statement of 20th December 1982, so as to help the British Steel Corporation to achieve their objectives without further reduction in the number of persons employed in the steel industry.
§ Lord TrefgarneHer Majesty's Government have stressed to the Commission, whose responsibility it is to administer the State Aids Decision (2320/81/ECSC), the importance they attach to strict and fair implementation of the rules, so that state aids are not authorised unless accompanied by commensurate cuts in steel-making capacity. The Government have left the other Governments of the European Community in no doubt that the capacity cuts in the United Kingdom steel industry must be matched by other member states. But the Government have also made clear that the current programme of redundancies and smaller plant closures by the British Steel Corporation is essential if the Corporation is to stem its mounting losses.
reports of alleged breaches of relevant regulations made to the Health and Safety Executive, or of possible breaches noted during inspection and resolved by informal action such as oral or written advice, is not readily available. The table below gives provisional information about relevant notices issued and prosecutions completed by the Health and Safety Executive in the 12 months ending September 1982.