HC Deb 10 November 2003 vol 413 c147W
Mr. Webb

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many(a) enforcement notices have been served and (b) prosecutions have been initiated by health and safety inspectors under Health and Safety at Work legislation in each of the last 12 months. [135822]

Mr. Browne

The number of(a) improvement and prohibition notices served, and (b) the number of prosecutions initiated by the Health and Safety Executive, Field Operations Directorate inspectors, in each of the last 12 months for which information is available, are shown in the table:

2002–031 Improvement and

Prohibition notices

issued

 Separate offences

prosecuted
April 2002 962 110
May 1,462 149
June 1,013 141
July 1,309 109
August 1,098 69
September 1,141 148
October 1,090 121
November 1080 148
December 821 113
January 2003 898 154
February 923 161
March 950 182
Total 12,747 1,605
1provisional

Notes:

1. Figures for improvement and prohibition notices served, and prosecutions stated by local authorities on a month-by-month basis, are not available except at disproportionate cost.

2. The number of notices are those issued by HSE in Great Britain.

3. In England and Wales, HSE inspectors initiate prosecution. In Scotland, the Procurator Fiscal decides whether to bring a prosecution; HSE recommends prosecution when this is justified following an investigation.