§ Mr. McNamaraTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how many internal and external advertisements were placed from 1997 to 2000 for inspector vacancies in the Hull office which stated that Hull was the location for the post; and if he will place copies of such advertisements in the Library. [128792]
§ Mr. MeacherExternal recruitment of inspectors is conducted on a national basis and recruitment adverts do not state a particular location for posts. Our records show that no advertisements for Inspectors have stated Hull as the location for a post since 1997.
§ Mr. McNamaraTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how many educational and promotional visits were made by HSE inspectors to locations in(a) Hull, (b) East Riding, (c) North Lincolnshire and (d) North East Lincolnshire from 1974 to 2000; and in which offices the visiting speakers were based. [128793]
§ Mr. MeacherThe data provided are for 1996 onwards. Data pre 1996 are available only at disproportionate cost.
Educational and promotional visits made by HSE inspectors Year Hull East Riding North Lincolnshire North East Lincolnshire 1996–97 18 9 7 12 1997–98 5 2 3 4 1998–99 12 11 2 6 1999–2000 13 10 0 9 HSE does not keep records of visiting speakers. However, our records on FOCUS are able to determine how many educational and promotional visits were made to each of the named locations by Inspectors based in Hull.
LA Area Top Tier TT (Gas) TT (Exp) Lower Tier LT (Gas) LT (Exp) Total (a) Hull 1 — — 3 1 — 5 (b) East Riding 5 1 — 8 — 2 16 (c) East Lincolnshire 10 — — 2 1 — 13 (d) North East Lincolnshire 10 — — 2 1 — 13 (e) Barnsley — — — 2 1 — 3 (f) Doncaster 1 1 1 2 1 — 6 (g) Sheffield 3 — — 4 — — 7 (h) Rotherham 2 — — 4 — — 6 Totals 33 2 1 29 4 2 71
§ Mr. McNamaraTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if the costing upon which the closure of the Hull HSE office was based took account of future travel and transfer expenses; and what environmental assessment was carried out. [128795]
§ Mr. MeacherI can confirm that account has been taken of future travel and transfer expenses. Consideration has been made in relation to the issue of environmental considerations, as transferring the two operational inspector posts to Sheffield will incur some additional
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Educational and promotional visits made by HSE inspectors based in Hull Year Hull East Riding North Lincolnshire North East Lincolnshire 1996–97 11 6 2 3 1997–98 4 2 1 2 1998–99 7 9 0 5 1999–2000 3 5 0 9
§ Mr. McNamaraTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how many HSE inspectors within the jurisdiction of the Hazardous Installation Directorate are located in each of the following divisions and how many Control of Major Accident Hazards sites there are by upper and lower tier in(a) Hull, (b) East Riding, (c) East Lincolnshire, (d) North East Lincolnshire, (e) Barnsley, (f) Doncaster, (g) Sheffield and (h) Rotherham. [128794]
§ Mr. MeacherFor the inspection of COMAH sites and other premises storing and manufacturing chemicals in the ares listed the Hazardous Installations Directorate of HSE has six Inspectors based at Sheffield, managed by a Principal Inspector. These Inspectors also cover the rest of Lincolnshire, Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire. COMAH sites operated by BG Transco are inspected by a separate group of five Inspectors, also based at Sheffield, who inspect BG Transco sites throughout the north of England. Explosives sites subject to COMAH are inspected by three HM Explosives Inspectors who cover eastern and south east England.
All these Inspectors are able to call on the advice and assistance of other HSE inspectors to provide support on a range of specialist topics.
The enforcement of COMAH is undertaken by the Competent Authority (HSE and the Environment Agency). Therefore, Environment Agency Inspectors are also involved in the inspect of COMAH sites.
The number of premises subject to COMAH in the following local authority areas are:
mileage. It is difficult to be specific about the actual extra mileage as it will depend on where the inspectors choose to live and the operational need for visits to Humberside.
§ Mr. McNamaraTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what discussions he held before deciding to close the HSE office in Hull with(a) local employers, (b) trade unions and (c) local authorities; over what length of time such consultations took place; and what the opinions were of those who were consulted. [128796]
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§ Mr. MeacherOn this occasion at the request of the Deputy Prime Minister, Bill Callaghan, Chair, Health and Safety Commission and Chris Willby, Director, HSE Yorkshire and North East have met with trade unions to discuss with them how HSE' s role in the current and future issues of Hull is properly preserved.
§ Mr. McNamaraTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how many inspectors of Band 2 or equivalent and below were in(a) Health and Safety Executive offices and (b) operational inspection groups in each year between 1974 and 2000 in(i)Newcastle, (ii) Leeds, (iii) Sheffield, (iv) Hull and (v)North Allerton. [128845]
§ Mr. MeacherInformation is provided from 1995. Information prior to that date could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
(a) Total inspectors at Band 2 and below in all HSE offices Date as at 1 April Band 2 Band 3 Band 4 Total 1995 449 892 143 1,484 1996 471 916 80 1,467 1997 462 890 105 1,457 1998 460 895 105 1,460 1999 448 925 157 1,530 2000 476 915 140 1,531
(b) Total inspectors at Band 2 and below in Newcastle, Leeds, Sheffield, Hull and North Allerton Band Newcastle Leeds Sheffield Hull North Allerton 1 April 1995: 2 10 16 6 2 1 3 24 33 19 4 1 4 6 9 6 2 1 Total 40 58 31 8 3 1 April 1996: 2 7 15 5 2 1 3 29 40 22 5 2 4 2 2 6 — — Total 38 57 33 7 3 1 April 1997: 2 7 15 5 2 1 3 28 37 17 4 2 4 3 3 5 — — Total 38 55 27 6 3 1 April 1998: 2 6 14 6 2 — 3 32 35 20 3 — 4 3 5 5 — — Total 41 54 31 5 0 1 April 1999: 2 6 14 5 2 — 3 35 36 25 3 — 4 5 8 8 — — Total 46 58 38 5 0 1 April 2000: 2 6 15 5 2 — 3 34 38 28 4 — 4 8 8 7 — — Total 48 61 40 6 0
§ Mr. McNamaraTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how many premises, for which the HSE had inspection responsibility,502W were registered on HSE databases for Areas 14, 15 and 19 in each year from 1974 to 1995; and how many open incumbent records there were for each of these areas for the years 1996 to 2000. [128846]
§ Mr. MeacherThe question asks for data from 1974 to 2000. The Field Operations Directorate of HSE currently uses a computer data system introduced in 1996. The previous data system was in use from 1980 to 1995. The information requested is not kept in a format which allows the question to be answered. FOCUS is a dynamic record of clients and locations with which HSE has had recent and/or continuing contact. The following table gives the current number of open incumbent records categorised by role, e.g. employer, self-employed, sub-contractor etc.
Open incumbents by 'incumbent role' in FOCUS databases for areas 14, 15 and 19 on 3 July 2000 Area 14 Area 15 Area 19 Employer 21,738 32,260 23,958 Self-employed 626 1,631 1,061 Partner 112 284 173 Responsible officer 17 37 9 Employee 54 49 25 Principal contractor 2,118 3,146 1,324 Sub-contractor 1,561 1,660 860 Plant hirer 48 98 27 Product supplier 81 188 74 Importer 9 11 5 Installer 360 291 276 Quarry owner 29 54 3 Competent person 18 13 12 Professional adviser 100 62 38 Vehicle operator 113 29 37 Landlord 312 616 383 Managing agent 37 81 47 Trainer 75 35 24 Employment agency 11 21 3 Others 349 466 515 Client 186 269 113 Designer 36 96 54 Planning supervisor 164 303 100 Intermediary 4 6 6 Source:
FOCUS live database as at 3 July 2000
§ Mr. McNamaraTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how many site visits and contacts of all types were made by HSE inspectors in each of Areas 14, 15 and 19 in each year from 1974 to 2000. [128844]
MeacherThe following data are provided 1996 onwards. Data pre-1996 are available only at disproportionate cost.
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FOCUS recorded contacts 1996–97 to 1999–2000 for databases 14, 15 and 19 by contact location Contact location 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 Area 14 Elsewhere1 583 394 252 256 Head office2 176 105 56 45 HSE office3 1,017 1,290 1,596 1,586 Site4 7,446 4,996 4,582 5,535 Area 15 Elsewhere1 736 534 517 457 Head office2 300 224 163 140 HSE office3 2,390 1,605 1,756 1,665 Site4 8,054 7,713 7,763 6,542
FOCUS recorded contacts 1996–97 to 1999–2000 for databases 14,15 and 19 by contact location Contact location 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 Area 19 Elsewhere1 524 464 324 441 Head office2 199 165 93 95 HSE office3 622 824 1,389 954 Site4 7,619 6,508 6,954 7,538 1Used when an activity/topic is dealt with at a location other than site, office or head office. 2Used when an activity/topic is dealt with at the head office of any client. 3Used when an activity/topic is dealt with at an HSE office or any other place regarded as an HSE office. 4Used when an activity/topic is dealt with at an incumbent's location. Source:
FOCUS live database as at 3 July 2000
§ Mr. McNamaraTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how many(a) site visits and (b) incumbent contacts were made to premises in Humberside County Commission area in each year from 1974 to 2000 (i)by HSE inspectors based in Hull and (ii) by all inspectors. [128847]
§ Mr. MeacherThe following data cover the period from 1996 onwards.
Site visits and incumbent contacts made to premises in Humberside County Commission by HSE inspectors based in Hull 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 Site visits 1,366 905 657 520 Incumbent contacts 1,718 1,243 883 638
Site visits and incumbent contacts made to premises in Humberside County Commission by all HSE inspectors (including those based in Hull) 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 Site visits 3,481 2,205 2,193 2,235 Incumbent contacts 4,377 3,045 3,022 2,823 The question asks for data from 1974 to 2000. The Field Operations Directorate of HSE currently uses a computer data system introduced in 1996. The previous data system was in use from 1980 to 1995. It is no longer practicable to search in this database for the details requested. There was no database prior to 1980. Data pre-1996 are available only at disproportionate cost.