§ Mr. Ashtonasked the Secretary of State for Employment why the number of health and safety inspectors in the agriculture inspectorate has been cut from 200 to 150 in eight years; and how many of them now carry out scheduled inspections.
§ Mr. NichollsIn order to contain public sector manpower and spending there have been staff reductions in the Health and Safety Executive, as in the Civil Service as a whole. In HSE this has been accompanied by improvements in efficiency with the use of sound financial management, strategic planning and careful targeting.
On 1 April 1979 there were 189 inspectors in Her Majesty's Agricultural Inspectorate. On 1 October 1987 the total was 154, of whom 142 were in the field.
A recruitment competition for factory and agricultural inspectors has just started.