§ Mr. Proctorasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement concerning the 797W proposed dispersal of Her Majesty's Nuclear Installations Inspectorate to Bootle and its effects on the Sizewell B programme.
§ Mr. Gummer[pursuant to his reply, 24 July 1984, c. 619]: The Sizewell B programme will depend on the outcome of the Sizewell inquiry. The Health and Safety Executive has now decided that in order to avoid any disruption of work directly connected with the pre-licensing review of the proposed Sizewell B PWR station the move of the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate staff engaged on this work will be postponed for one year to the autumn of 1986.
§ Mr. Proctorasked the Secretary of State for Employment (1) what is his estimate of the loss of staff that will be incurred in the move of Her Majesty's Nuclear Installations Inspectorate to Bootle; what is his estimate of the effect on the efficiency of the Inspectorate; and if he will make a statement;
(2) how many professional staff there are in Her Majesty's Nuclear Installations Inspectorate; what proportion of these are over or within three years of retirement; how he proposes to replace the expertise of those who leave the inspectorate on its dispersal to Bootle; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Gummer[pursuant to his reply, 24 July 1984, c. 619]: There are at present 99 nuclear installations inspectors in post in the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate, of whom 17 are currently over the age of 57.
It is not yet possible to say whether there will be a net loss of staff from the inspectorate attributable to dispersal. The Health and Safety Executive is continuing its vigorous recruitment campaign for nuclear installations inspectors. There is bound to be some loss of efficiency during the period of any dispersal of staff. The Health and Safety Executive is taking every possible step to minimise this for its staff, including nuclear installations inspectors, who are having to disperse.
§ Mr. Proctorasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will publish the results of a survey of opinion conducted recently amongst the inspectors of Her Majesty's Nuclear Installations Inspectorate by the Health and Safety Executive with regard to their attitudes to and problems arising from the proposed dispersal to Bootle, if he will bring this survey to the attention of the inspector of the Sizewell "B" Inquiry; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Gummer[pursuant to his reply, 24 July 1984, c. 619]: I am advised by the chairman of the Health and Safety Commission that the Health and Safety Executive has almost completed the normal personnel management programme of pre-dispersal interviews which are held on a personal and confidential basis. All Health and Safety Executive staff who are dispersing are invited to such an interview and in the case of Her Majesty's Nuclear Installations Inspectorate, of the 71 inspectors who are to disperse to Merseyside, 65 have been interviewed.
I am bringing to the attention of the inspector of the Sizewell inquiry the decision to postpone for a year the move of the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate staff engaged on work connected with the prelicensing review of the Sizewell B PWR station.
§ Mr. Proctorasked the Secretary of State for Employment what representations he has received from 798W representatives of the professional staff of Her Majesty's Nuclear Installations Inspectorate expressing opposition to the dispersal to Bootle planned for September 1985; what reply he has made; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Gummer[pursuant to his reply, 24 July 1984, c. 619]: My predecessor met representatives of the Institution of Professional Civil Servants in November 1981 to discuss their concerns on this matter.
§ Mr. Proctorasked the Secretary of State for Employment what success has occurred in the recent recruitment campaign to Her Majesty's Nuclear Installations Inspectorate; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Gummer[pursuant to his reply, 24 July, 1984, c. 619]: I am advised by the chairman of the Health and Safety Commission that, as a result of the recruitment campaign in 1983, four candidates have taken up posts with Her Majesty's Nuclear Installations Inspectorate and a further candidate is due to take up post in October 1984.
A new campaign is under way at present and the results will be known early in August 1984.