§ Lord Wedderburn of Charltonasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will state the number of inspectors appointed under Section 10(1) of the Truck Act 1896, as amended, who were in post on 1st June (or other convenient date) 1979 and each year thereafter for which figures are available; the number of occasions in each of such years on which these inspectors inspected, by visit or otherwise, premises or records of employers for the purposes of that Act and on which registers of such employers failed to satisfy Section 6(3) of that Act; the number of legal proceedings commenced by such inspectors in these years; and whether, and if so what, representations have been made to the Secretary of State in that period requesting him to exempt workmen because its provisions were unnecessary within the meaning of Section 9(1) of that Act.
§ Lord Trefgarnethe information requested is given in the following table:
Officers appointed under Section 10(1) of the Truck Act 1896, as amended, in post at 1st September in each year 1979 60 1980 58 1981 47 1982 43 1983 45 1984 43 1985 46 During this period no employer whose records were examined was found to be in breach of Section 6(3) of the Act. All complaints were resolved without the need to bring legal proceedings. No representations have been made to the Secretary of State seeking exemption under Section 9(1) from the Act's provisions.