§ Lord Kennetasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether, in the light of recent events in Basle, they will review the present state of affairs wherein local authorities are not allowed to know details of the location and storage of chemicals which, singly or in contact with others, may present hazards.
§ The Secretary of State for Employment (Lord Young of Graffham)Details of sites where there are chemicals which are capable of presenting major accident hazards are already passed to local authorities at county (or equivalent) level.
Information which is notified to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) under the Notification of Installations Handling Hazardous Substances 271WA Regulations (NIHHS) 1982 and the Control of Industrial Major Accident Hazards Regulations (CIMAH) 1984 is disclosed to local authorities by HSE.
In addition, under the CIMAH Regulations, occupiers at sites defined by the regulations as having the greatest major accident hazard potential are required to provide information to local authorities to enable them to fulfil their obligation to draw up off-site emergency plans. This informaton includes the major accident hazards presented by any chemicals held on site.
These arrangements will be reviewed in the light of the accident at Basle.