HC Deb 20 January 1992 vol 202 cc90-1W
Mr. Harry Barnes

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many inspector grade staff have transferred into the Health and Safety Executive offshore division since 1 April 1991 from(a) other parts of the Health and Safety Executive, (b) the Department of Energy and (c) the Department of Transport; and in each case, how many were initially engaged in (i) policy and (ii) operational work.

Mr. Forth

The number of inspector grade staff who have transferred into the offshore safety division of the Health and Safety Executive on or after 1 April 1991 is as follows:

Department Number Of whom policy Of whom operational Personal and training
Department of Energy 139 nil 38 1
Department of Transport nil nil nil nil
Other parts of Health and Safety Executive 25 3 21 1
1 One inspector has since retired.

Mr. Harry Barnes

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many applicants for inspector grade posts in the Health and Safety Executive's offshore division have been offered employment since 1 April 1991; and how many of these(a) are now in post and (b) have refused employment.

Mr. Forth

Since 1 April 1991, 39 applicants have had formal offers of appointment and 19 of them are now in post. A further 16 applicants are either negotiating a suitable starting date or are to respond to offers of employment. Four applicants have refused offers of employment.

Mr. Harry Barnes

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many inspector grade posts in the Health and Safety Executive's offshore division remain unfilled; and what is the planned time scale for these posts to be filled.

Mr. Forth

It is the intention of the Health and Safety Executive to increase the number of inspector grade posts to 122 by 1 April 1992. On 15 January 1992 there were 82 staff already in post, and 40 unfilled posts. There are, in addition, six successful candidates from the first two recruitment campaigns due to join in the next month or so and 37 who are still being processed. While they may not all be in post by 1 April 1992, the target should be achieved shortly afterwards.

Mr. Harry Barnes

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many inspector grade posts are planned for the Health and Safety Executive's offshore division for the years ending 31 March 1992, 1993 and 1994; and how many were planned for the year ended 31 March 1991.

Mr. Forth

The Health and Safety Executive's offshore safety division currently plans to have 122 inspector grade posts by 1 April 1992.

Further expansion by about 50 posts is currently being planned for 1 April 1993, details of which will be contained in the Health and Safety Commission's plan of work for 1992–93, due to be published in the spring. At present, the increase anticipated for 1 April 1994 will take the numbers to around 200 inspectors.

Planning for the year ending 31 March 1991 was the responsibility of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Energy. There were, however, 39 inspector posts in the Department of Energy's petroleum engineering division when it was transferred to the Health and Safety Executive.