§ Mr. Spencerasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on the results of the visit to Leicester on 20 June 1984 by the hon. Member for Suffolk, Coastal (Mr. Gummer) the then Minister of State.
§ Mr. Peter BottomleyMy hon. Friend the Member for Suffolk, Coastal (Mr. Gummer), my predecessor as Minister with immediate responsibility for matters of health and safety at work, visited Leicester on 20 June at the invitation of the hon. and learned Member to discuss allegations about illegal working conditions in small firms in the textile and clothing industries. He visited a number of firms and held discussions with the editor of theLeicester Mercury and a number of local groups. He visited Leicester again on 10 September to announce a campaign that is being undertaken by the Health and Safety Executive and the Wages Inspectorate, involving as appropriate the fire authorities, to investigate alleged illegal working conditions in three areas—Leicester, the west midlands and London's east end. I expect to receive reports from the Health and Safety Executive and from the Wages Inspectorate on the outcome of the campaign and will inform the House of further developments in due course.