§ Mr. McCartneyTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment how the Health and Safety Executive determined what part of the work of the field consultant groups was suitable for contracting out; and what factors made it possible to undertake this work separately from other duties at no extra cost to the Health and Safety Executive.
§ Mr. OppenheimThe Health and Safety Executive reviewed the range of work carried out by the field consultant groups to determine what part of the work was suitable for contracting out. An important factor was to identify what functions required the powers and discretion540W of an inspector. The process of tendering for the remaining functions will determine what level of savings can be achieved.
§ Mr. McCartneyTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment what plans exist for the Health and Safety Executive to cut clerical and administrative posts in the field operations division following the introduction of laptop computers for inspectorial staff.
§ Mr. OppenheimThe Health and Safety Executive is now beginning the development of a project to equip field staff with portable computers and, as part of that development, will assess the scale of extra efficiencies which will be achieved.
§ Mr. McCartneyTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment what was the cost of the Health and Safety Executive's staffing budget between 1 September 1993 and 1 September 1994.
§ Mr. OppenheimThe amount spent on Health and Safety Executive staffing between 1 September 1993 and 1 September 1994 was £117.6 million.
§ Mr. McCartneyTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment what work is currently done by the scientists who work within the Health and Safety Executive's field consultant groups; and if he will make a statement on the place of this work in the investigation of workplace ill health, accidents and incidents.
§ Mr. OppenheimScientists in the Health and Safety Executive's field consultant groups are mainly concerned with chemical substance sampling and analysis, scientific measurements and surveys as a service to inspectors in HSE's field operations division who undertake the investigation of workplace ill health, accidents and incidents.
§ Mr. McCartneyTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many of the Health and Safety Executive's professional and specialist staff have less than three years' service with the Health and Safety Executive.
§ Mr. OppenheimThere are 1,857 professional and specialist staff in the Health and Safety Executive of whom 408 have less than three years service with HSE.
§ Mr. McCartneyTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment why the Health and Safety Executive has found the need to consider an early retirement scheme for its specialists grades; how many posts it intends to lose by 1 April 1995; and how much money it expects Ito save on the payroll budget.
§ Mr. OppenheimThe voluntary early retirement scheme for the Health and Safety Executive managed grades and scientists was introduced to help restructure HSE management. Eighty-five management posts will be lost by 1 April 1995 through this scheme.
The money from these posts will be used for a range of purposes including the recruitment of front-line inspectors. At this stage, it is impossible to predict what the net effect on payroll spend will be.
§ Mr. McCartneyTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment what are the total net savings in(a) costs and (b) staff years resulting from market-testing exercises in the Health and Safety Executive since April 1992.
§ Mr. OppenheimThe Health and Safety Executive completed five market tests since April 1992. These have resulted in a net saving of 92 posts and a net cash saving of £560,000. The answer gives the number of posts saved rather than staff years as market tests are completed at 541W various times in the year and the HSE does not record fractions of staff years.
§ Mr. McCartneyTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment what reviews of the Health and Safety Executive's national interest groups are currently under way; when these reviews expect to report; and when recommendations are likely to be implemented.
§ Mr. OppenheimA review of national interest groups in the Health and Safety Executive's field operations division began in autumn 1994. The review is examining the purpose and function of NIGs; their staffing and location and the allocation of industry or topic responsibilities between them. A report is due to be submitted to HSE senior management in July 1995. Any recommendations are likely to be implemented during the following two years.
§ Mr. McCartneyTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment what workload formulae are being used by the Health and Safety Executive and for what purposes; and if he will provide full details of how they were calculated.
§ Mr. OppenheimWorkload formulae are used within the Health and Safety Executive as an aid to management judgments especially in deploying inspectors as between geographical areas, industrial sectors and types of risks.
Such formulae are used, for example, to take account of real and perceived risks in different sectors and to assess the relative priorities in inspections, technical and policy work. They are managerial tools to be employed with discretion and not fixed indicators, and I see no advantage in their publication.
§ Mr. McCartneyTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many staff the Health and Safety Executive has lost, and expects to lose, as a result of public expenditure survey settlements in(a) 1993–94, (b) 1994–95 and (c) 1996–97.
§ Mr. OppenheimI am informed that the Health and Safety Executive made no changes to its staffing in 1993–94 because of the PES 1992 settlement, in which the Health and Safety Commission's bid for resources was met in full. The PES 1992 settlement provided for 4,661 staff in 1993–94. The PES 1993 settlement provided for 4,599 staff in 1994–95. Staffing levels for 1996–97 are currently being considered in the context of the forthcoming PES 1995 round.
§ Mr. McCartneyTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment what amounts of money the Health and Safety Executive has spent in employing consultants in relation to market-testing exercises since 1 April 1992.
§ Mr. OppenheimSince 1 April 1992, the Health and Safety Executive has spent a total of £199,000 on consultancy in relation to market-testing exercises.
§ Mr. McCartneyTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is the current annual cost of employing scientists to work within the Health and Safety Executive's field consultant groups.
§ Mr. OppenheimThe estimated current annual cost at 1994–95 prices to the Health and Safety Executive of employing scientists in its field consultant groups is £891,000.
§ Mr. McCartneyTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment what response he has given to the Health and Safety Executive's director general on the subject of agency status for the Health and Safety Executive's health and safety laboratory.
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Mr. OppenhiemI have written to the chairman of the Health and Safety Commission, on whose behalf the Health and Safety Executive acts, asking that work to make the health and safety laboratory an agency of the executive should be undertaken swiftly. The necessary work is in hand for the health and safety laboratory to become an agency from April 1995.
§ Mr. McCartneyTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many inspectors employed in the Health and Safety Executive's field operations division have less than(a) three years' service and (b) five years' service for the Health and Safety Executive.
Mr. OppenhiemThere are 914 inspectors employed by the Health and Safety Executive's field operation division. Of these inspectors, 153 have less than three years service and 336 less than five years' service in working for HSE.
§ Mr. McCartneyTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment what work is undertaken by the specialist inspectors who work within the Health and Safety Executive's field consultant groups.
Mr. OppenhiemSpecialist inspector work is regulatory in character and involves applying expert health and safety knowledge of engineering and occupational hygiene to inspection, accident and incident investigation, standard setting and enforcement.
§ Mr. McCartneyTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment what was the Health and Safety Executive's salary budget for each year since 1988–89; and what is the proposed figure for(a) 1995–96 and (b) 1996–97.
§ Mr. OppenheimThe available information which relates to the civil service pay bill of the Health and Safety Executive is given in the table:
Year Civil Service pay bill outturn £s millions 1988–89 70 1989–90 77 1990–91 86 1991–92 98 1992–93 112 1993–94 117 The final pay bill for 1994–95, and the pay bill for subsequent years, will depend among other things on the outcome of pay negotiations which have yet to be concluded.