§ Mr. MaddenTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment if she will arrange to exempt Sikhs from EC regulations requiring those people in certain occupations to wear protective headwear in their place of work; what representations she has received on this matter; what consultations EC institutions are undertaking with Sikh organisations and others; and if she will make a statement.
§ Mr. McLoughlinMy right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Employment has no plans to arrange for a general exemption for turban wearing followers of the Sikh religion from the regulations to implement the European directive on the use of personal protective equipment at work. Nor has she any plans to remove the existing exemption for such Sikhs on construction sites. The Secretary of State has received a number of representations from Sikh organisations and others on this issue, to which she and Ministers of this Department have responded individually. Consultations which EC institutions undertake are a matter for those institutions themselves.