§ Ms EagleTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many prosecutions have been brought by the Health and Safety Executive against(a) regions of the National Rivers Authority, (b) regional water companies, (c) regional electricity companies and (d) "next steps" agencies in each of the last five years.
§ Mr. Michael ForsythThe information available is as follows:
(a) Regions of the National Rivers Authority (NRA).
No informations were laid during the financial years 1989–90 to 1992–93—provisional.
(b) Regional Water Companies.
One information was laid in England and Wales during the five years 1988–89 to 1992–93—provisional. The regional water councils control the industry in Scotland.
(c) Regional Electricity Companies.
The number of informations laid in England and Wales is set out in the following table:
Year of hearing Information laid 1988–89 1 1989–90 2 1990–91 1 1991–92 — 11992–93 9 1 Provisional. The information available for Scotland is as follows:
Year of hearing Information laid 1988–89 — 1989–90 1 1990–91 — 1991–92 — 11992–93 — 1 Provisional. The figures for England and Wales relate only to electricity distribution; the Scottish figures concern power generation as well.
§ Ms EagleTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many prosecutions have been brought by the Health and Safety Executive against(a) county councils and (b) district councils in England in each of the past five years.
§ Mr. Michael ForsythThe information available for local authorities in England is provided in the following table:
629W
Year of hearing Informations laid 1988–89 22 1989–90 21 1990–91 32 1991–92 21 11992–93 47 1 Provisional It would not be possible to identify figures separately for county and district councils except at disproportionate cost.
§ Ms EagleTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment what research his Department has commissioned in the last two years on the relationship between working hours, rest breaks and accidents in the workplace.
§ Mr. Michael ForsythNo research on this specific topic has been commissioned by the Employment Department in the last two years.
Professor J. M. Harrington of the University of Birmingham institute of occupational health was commissioned last year to identify and evaluate pertinent medical and scientific literature relating to the effect, if any, of hours of work on employees' health. The Health and Safety Executive has previously commissioned the study "Shiftwork, Health and Safety—an overview of the scientific literature 1978–1990", by Waterhouse, Folkard and Minors, 1992.