§ Mr. Paul MarsdenTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the cost of the Dangerous Goods Safety Adviser Scheme has been in each year since the scheme was established; and how many advisers have been trained in each year. [138370]
§ Mr. McNultyThe regulations implementing EU Directive 96/35/EC were made in February 1999 and dangerous goods safety advisers (DGSA) had to be appointed by a qualifying undertaking from 1 January 2000. The Directive does not include a requirement for approved training. Competence is proved by the successful completion of a written examination, which leads to the award of a DGSA certificate. The first certificate was awarded in October 1998.
The number of certificates issued in each year are as follows:
Number 1998–99 75 1999–2000 2,237 2000–01 1,061 2001–02 389 2002–03 321 The costs of undertaking the approved examinations and the issue of the vocational certificate issuing arrangements are currently £230. This is to undertake a typical examination consisting of the core module, the transport module and the class module. An additional fee of £85 is payable to undertake an additional module or class examination. As there is no formal training required, there are no records of any associated training costs. The level of training necessary will depend on the competence of the candidate.
The Health and Safety Executive consulted with stakeholders prior to the making of the regulations. In its consultative document, the HSE estimated the quantified costs to society over a 10-year period at between £580 million and £990 million. These costs are incurred by consignors and operators of transport 641W involved with the carriage of dangerous goods by road and rail. These estimated costs have not been updated or verified.