Pollution Inspectorate (Hansard, 19 October 1989)

§ Dr. Cunningham
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will give details of progress in reorganising Her Majesty's inspectorate of pollution; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Patten
My hon. Friend the Minister for Housing, Environment and Countryside announced on 2 October that significant progress has been made in reorganising Her Majesty's inspectorate of pollution to integrate its regulatory activities. The inspectorate will now operate on a regionalised basis. Full details are available in the Library. I am delighted with the progress made to date. This will ensure that we can secure the benefits of integrated pollution control as quickly as possible.

§ Dr. Cunningham
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) if he will list the total number of professional staff employed within the pollution inspectorate;
(2) if he will list the number of vacancies for professionals within the pollution inspectorate, showing in each case the grade and salary scale.

§ Mr. Chris Patten
HMIP employs 103 professional staff; an additional 28 professional posts are currently vacant. We shall shortly be advertising vacancies at a new grade of pollution inspector. A new salary scale has been proposed to staff representatives ranging from £20,238 to £26,910 (including London weighting). At the minimum of the scale this represents an increase of the 17.3 per cent. against current rates and of 28.5 per cent. against rates offered at the last recruitment exercise.

§ Dr. Cunningham
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what mechanism has been set up within his Department for liaison between the National Rivers Authority and Her Majesty's inspectorate of pollution.

§ Mr. Chris Patten
A series of discussions has been held by my Department, involving both organisations, to define the basis of their future working relationship. Both the inspectorate and the National Rivers Authority recognise the need for close co-ordination at the interface between their respective responsibilities and will be drawing up a memorandum of understanding to cover these matters.