§ Mr. GunnellTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment why the services provided by the regional laboratories of the Health and Safety Executive are being contracted out; and what consideration he gave to allowing those laboratories, individually or collectively, to be market tested.
§ Mr. Oppenheim[holding answer 31 October 1994]: The Health and Safety Executive decided to include the regional laboratories in its "Competing for Quality" programme for 1994–95 to seek improvements in value for money from these services. Careful consideration was given to how the laboratories should be treated under the programme. HSE concluded that a bid from the staff in the laboratories, acting on their own account, would not be viable.