HC Deb 30 October 1996 vol 284 cc118-9W
Mr. Allen

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list, for each of the last 10 years, the number of inspections carried out by Health and Safety Executive inspectors. [659]

Sir Paul Beresford

The following table shows the number of inspections carried out by Health and Safety Executive inspectors in each of the last 10 years.

Year Inspections1
1986–87 164,098
1987–88 159,641
1988–89 159,550
1989–90 171,580
1990–91 169,346
1991–922 175,070
1992–93 162,815
1993–94 157,032
1994–95 147,160
1995–96 124,869
1 Inspections are planned preventive inspections by HSE's inspectorates, and site visits to monitor nuclear site licences by the nuclear safety division. They do not include reactive work such as investigation of accidents and complaints about workplace conditions.
2 Figures for 1991–92 and beyond include inspections of the railway and offshore industries which became the responsibility of HSE on 3 December 1990 and 1 April 1991 respectively.

Mr. Allen

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list, for each of the last 10 years, the number of enforcement notices issued by(a) the Health and Safety Executive's field operations division inspectorates and (b) local authority inspectors. [470]

Sir Paul Beresford

The total number of enforcement notices issued by HSE's field operations directorate and local authority inspectors between 1986–87 and 1994–95 is as follows:

Enforcement notices issued by field operations directorate
Number of notices issued
1986–87 19,374
1987–88 111,158
1988–89 111,054
1989–90 211,857
1990–91 212,653
1991–92 212,330
1992–93 211,825
1993–94 210,516
1994–95 210,639
1995–96 3,48,674
1 Combined number of notices issued by HM agricultural inspectorate and HM factory inspectorate. Source HSC annual report 1988–89.
2 Number of notices issued by HSE's field operations division. Source Health and Safety Statistics 1994–95.
3 Number of Notices issued by HSE's field operations division. Source Health and Safety Commission annual report 1995–96.
4 Provisional.
Enforcement notices issued by local authority inspectors
Number of notices issued
1986–87 8,100
1987–88 9,520
1988–89 10,070
1989–90 10,220
1990–91 13,030
1991–92 21,680
1992–93 26,980
1993–94 20,660
1994–95 11,790

Mr. Allen

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list, for each of the last 10 years, the number of field inspectors employed by the Health and Safety Executive, indicating the proportion of them with less than two years experience. [658]

Sir Paul Beresford

The information available is as follows for health and safety inspectors—factory, agricultural, quarries, mines and railways—working from area offices. Nuclear, offshore, and specialist inspectors are excluded, as are inspectors currently assigned to headquarters.

Year (1 April) Inspector numbers Proportion with less than two years' experience (per cent.)
1987 757.5 13
1988 712.5 14
1989 724 14
1990 750.5 21
1991 789 24
1992 826 24
1993 834 19
1994 841.5 14
1995 783.3 7
1996 807.5 5