59. Mr. FloodTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment what priority he accords to reliance on self-regulation in maintaining health and safety at the workplace.
§ Mr. NichollsSelf-regulation is fundamental to the operation of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. The Health and Safety Commission itself includes representatives of employers and employees as well as local authorities, and its proposals for regulations and codes are based on extensive consultation with those affected by them. Employers are responsible under the Act for applying its general provisions to their work force and for preparing written health and safety policies, and are subject to such inspection as the commission considers generally appropriate.
§ 85. Mr. Andrew SmithTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment whether he will make available the
1. Location and address of HSE HQs, area offices and research and laboratory services division sites Location Address Headquarters London Baynards House, 1 Chepstow Place, London, W2 Merseyside Stanley Precinct, Bootle, Merseyside Area offices 01 South West Inter City House, Mitchell Lane, Victoria Street, Bristol 02 South Priestley House, Priestley Road, Basingstoke 03 South East 3 East Grinstead House, London Road, East Grinstead, West Sussex 041South East Chancel House, Neasden Lane, London, NW10 051 London North Maritime House, 1 Linton Road, Barking, Essex 061 London South 1 Long Lane, London SE1 07 East Anglia 39 Baddow Road, Chelmsford, Essex 08 North Home Counties 14 Cardiff Road, Luton, Bedfordshire 09 East Midlands Belgrave House, 1 Greyfriars, Northampton 10 West Midlands McLaren Building, 2 Masshose Circus, Queensway, Birmingham 11 Wales Brunel House, 2 Fitzalan Road, Cardiff 12 Marches The Marches House, Midway, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire 13 North Midlands Birkbeck House, Trinity Square, Nottingham 14 South Yorkshire Sovereign House, 40 Silver Street, Sheffield 15 West and North Yorkshire 8 St. Pauls Street, Leeds 16 Greater Manchester Quay House, Quay Street, Manchester 17 Merseyside The Triad, Stanley Road, Bootle 18 North West Victoria House, Ormskirk Road, Preston 19 North East Arden House, Regent Centre, Gosforth, Newcastle-upon-Tyne 20 Scotland East Belford House, 59 Belford Road, Edinburgh 21 Scotland West 314 St. Vincent Street, Glasgow Research and Laboratory Services Division London 403–405 Edgware Road, London, NW2 Buxton Harpur Hill, Buxton, Derbyshire Sheffield Broad Lane, Sheffield 1 Areas 04, 05 and 06 under command of Senior Area Director in Area 06. Inspectors and support staff cover all three locations. 426W
Posts in the health and safety executive 1 January in each year Location 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 Headquarters 1,340 1,362 1,349 1,305 1,266 1,316 1,341 1,369 1,382 1,409 1,369 Areas 01 128 128 130 122 105 101 100 95 93 91 91 02 68 67 79 66 59 63 65 76 74 76 71 03 87 104 109 115 106 101 104 99 92 95 91 04 72 57 70 56 50 47 46 51 29 27 23 05 57 50 49 64 59 57 74 50 66 64 58 06 103 107 93 85 82 79 72 70 74 75 07 70 68 69 67 61 57 59 73 76 73 61 08 108 135 134 129 120 108 108 96 93 101 92 research study on the Health and Safety Executive carried out by the socio-legal studies department at Wolfson college, Oxford.
§ Mr. NichollsThe research study by the centre for socio-legal studies at Wolfson college into aspects of policy and enforcement is not yet complete. A decision on its eventual publication is a matter for the centre.
§ Mr. McAllionTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will publish in theOfficial Report the location, address and staff complement of each Health and Safety Executive office in the United Kingdom in each year since 1978.
§ Mr. NichollsThe location, address and staff complement since 1978 for the Health and Safety Executive's headquarters, each area and for each research and laboratory services division site is as follows. It is not possible to show separately those staff located in sub-offices or outstationed. These staff are included in the appropriate area office total.
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1 January in each year Location 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 09 104 103 106 103 97 90 94 85 83 87 87 10 185 173 176 163 148 135 127 117 108 103 97 11 169 166 174 169 146 130 129 123 118 120 109 12 109 109 110 103 98 92 91 87 82 85 85 13 83 87 87 96 82 76 72 88 82 87 81 14 101 94 89 87 79 76 79 85 82 81 75 15 168 195 202 188 167 159 152 134 131 137 122 l6 149 144 139 134 126 120 120 101 92 95 92 17 65 69 67 68 59 57 61 66 69 70 62 18 70 69 64 70 66 64 65 74 73 71 64 19 126 116 116 116 111 105 97 94 91 93 77 20 128 152 155 151 140 138 134 114 107 106 106 21 104 78 76 74 68 62 59 73 69 70 71 Field total 2,254 2,271 2,294 2,226 2,029 1,917 1,888 1,852 1,780 1,806 1,690 Research and laboratory services 576 593 575 535 544 503 489 490 477 482 442 Posts in house 4,170 4,226 4,218 4,066 3,839 3,736 3,718 3,711 3,639 3,697 3,501
§ Mr. McAllionTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will publish in theOfficial Report for (a) Scotland and (b) the United Kingdom the number of prosecutions for alleged breaches of the Health and safety at Work etc. Act, and the number of custodial sentences imposed as a result of those prosecutions in each year since 1978.
§ Mr. Nicholls(a) The table shows the available information for Scotland.
Number of prosecutions: informations laid by Factory and Agricultural Inspectors Year Number 1981 183 1982 243 1983 259 1984 218 1985 298 1986–871 251 1 Provisional data for the 12 month period April 1986 to March 1987. (b) The table shows the available information for Great Britain.
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Number of prosecutions: informations laid Year 2 3 4 5 1978 — — 2,603 1979 — 2,427 — 1980 — 2,624 — 1981 — 1,892 — 1982 — 2,342 — 1983 2,238 2,230 — 1984 2,207 2,196 — 1985 2,313 2,196 — 1986–87 2,175 2,140 — 2 Data include prosecutions taken by Factory and Agricultural Inspectorate, Explosives Inspectorate, Her Majesty's Mines and Quarries Inspectorate, Railway Inspectorate and the Petroleum Engineering Division of the Department of Energy, but exclude the Pollution Inspectorate (formerly the Industrial Air Pollution Inspectorate). 3 Figures in both tables exclude the results of prosecutions taken by Local Authorities. The latest information for Local authorities (LAs) relates to 1985, for which we know of about 250 informations laid under the Health and Safety at Work Act, and 200 under other associated legislation in Great Britain as a whole. 4 Factory and Agricultural Inspectorate only. 5 Factory Inspectorate only. (c) In 1985, one person was given a suspended prison sentence of one month, and in 1987 one person was given two suspended prison sentences of nine months (to run consecutively). These sentences related to offences under the Health and Safety at Work etc Act and associated legislation. None of them occurred in Scotland.
§ Mr. McAllionTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will publish in theOfficial Report the average fine handed out for offences under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act for (a) Scotland and (b) the United Kingdom in each year since 1978.
§ Mr. NichollsThe average fine for prosecutions taken by the Health and Safety Executive's Factory and Agricultural Inspectorate for breach of health and safety laws in(a) Scotland and (b) Great Britain since 1978 is as follows:
Year Average fine (£) (a) Scotland (b) Great Britain 1978 + 1134 1979 + 184 1980 + 180 1981 154 189 1982 168 233 1983 182 252 1984 301 304 1985 316 426 21986–87 354 427 Notes: + Not Available. 1 Factory Inspectorate only. 2 Provisional. Figures for Northern Ireland are a matter for my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.