HC Deb 25 October 1999 vol 336 cc670-1W
Mr. Webb

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will require the Health and Safety Executive to make publicly available (a) reports on rail safety hitherto treated as confidential and (b) future reports on rail safety. [94701]

Mr. Hill

The results of HSE's investigations into rail safety are already made public. This has been achieved by publishing the findings eg of train accidents, research, passenger accidents and others in the Chief Inspector of Railway's Annual Report into Railway Safety. In the last year, HSE has also made public the result of its investigation into significant incidents as these are completed. Examples include findings following the derailment at Cadoxton and the accidents of Bexley and Winsford. Within the last year, HSE has also published the results of the investigation into the management of signals passed at danger.

HSE intends to make public the results of all such investigations as soon as possible after the completion of the investigation. This is illustrated by the publication of the interim findings into the recent train accident at Ladbroke Grove.