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10 Nov 2003 : Column 143W—continued
Correspondence
Mr. Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when he will respond to the letter of 14 August from the hon. Member for Totnes concerning Mrs. J. Duffy of Kingsbridge, Devon. [136970]
Mr. Andrew Smith: I replied to the hon. Member on 4 September. I am forwarding a copy of my letter to him.
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Mr. Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when he will respond to the letter of 18 August from the hon. Member for Totnes concerning Mr. Guy Pannell of South Brent and the winding-up of pension schemes. [136973]
Malcolm Wicks : I regret we have no record of the hon. Member's letter. If he would like to forward a copy I will arrange for it to be considered urgently.
Mr. Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions why he has not yet replied to the letter to him dated 18 September from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Mr. J. Meehan. [136983]
Mr. Andrew Smith: I replied to my right hon. Friend on 13 October. I am forwarding a copy of my letter to him.
Disability Handbook
Mr. Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the Answer of 17 September 2003, Official Report, column 758W, on the Disability Handbook, when the Government will start a programme to revise the Disability Handbook; what plans the Government has to consult the National Autistic Society during this review; and when the Government anticipates this work will be completed. [136505]
Maria Eagle: The Department is continuing to work on determining the final format for the information technology based guidance, which will eventually replace the Disability Handbook. The new guidance will be rolled out in phases. Detailed plans for its development and implementation have not yet been decided. Officials have already had meetings with the National Autistic Society and will take into consideration their comments on the current section in the Disability Handbook, in addition to information on the autistic spectrum disorder provided by them. The Department would welcome their comments on the revised draft guidance when developed.
EDS
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will list payments made to EDS in respect of (a) the Child Support Agency and (b) the Accord project in each of the last five financial years; and if he will make a statement. [134232]
Mr. Pond: The information is not available in the format requested and could be obtained only at disproportionate costs.
Employment (Wansdyke)
Dan Norris: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) how many people were in employment in Wansdyke constituency in (a) April 1997 and (b) October 2003; [136329]
- (2) how many people were unemployed and claiming benefits in Wansdyke constituency in (a) April 1997 and (b) October 2003. [136330]
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Mr. Pond: In 1997, 86 per cent. of the working age population in Wansdyke were in employment. An equivalent figure is not available for 2003.
In April 1997 there were 1,333 people unemployed and claiming Job Seeker's Allowance (JSA) in Wansdyke. Latest information from the claimant count is for September 2003, when there were 405 people claiming JSA.
Fireworks
Mr. Tynan: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the total capacity of facilities in the United Kingdom licensed by the Health and Safety Executive to store greater than one tonne of fireworks or related explosives was at 1 October. [134587]
Mr. Browne: The total licensed storage capacity for fireworks at sites licensed by the Health and Safety Executive is 19,177 tonnes. This figure represents the net mass of the explosive contained in the fireworks. This storage capacity is sufficient to hold fireworks with a gross weight in excess of 76 thousand tonnes.
In addition, local authority licensed stores holding more than one tonne (gross) have an estimated capacity of 5,000 tonnes (gross).
Explosives licensing in Northern Ireland is a matter for the Northern Ireland Office.
Mr. Tynan: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many explosive storage sites, capable of storing what quantity of explosives, were licensed by the Health and Safety Executive and other appropriate bodies in respect of Global Fireworks Ltd. (a) prior to 5 April 2002, (b) between 6 April 2002 and 5 April 2003 and (c) from 6 April 2003 to date. [135639]
Mr. Browne: Global Fireworks Ltd. did not have HSE-licensed storage facilities during any or these periods.
Licensing of explosives stores in Northern Ireland is a matter for the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. We understand that there were no explosives storage facilities licensed or registered in the name of Global Fireworks Ltd. during this period.
Smaller explosives stores are licensed or registered by local authorities. Registers of these storage facilities are maintained by local authorities. There is no central database of licensed stores and this information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Tynan: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps are taken by the Health and Safety Executive to ensure that consignments of fireworks entering the United Kingdom are taken to a licensed storage site. [135640]
Mr. Browne: The storage of fireworks is regulated by HSE in partnership with local authorities under the Explosives Act 1875. Anyone storing fireworks illegally will be liable for be prosecution.
HSE works with local authorities and Customs and Excise to verify whether firework importers have licensed storage facilities in Great Britain. The evidence from these checks is that the overwhelming majority of
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fireworks imports declared to Customs and Excise are being imported by firms with licensed storage available to them.
Mr. Tynan: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many prosecutions were commenced by the Health and Safety Executive for illegal (a) transportation and (b) storage of explosives in each of the last five years. [135641]
Mr. Browne: The information is in the following table. All the prosecutions were successful with the exception of the two prosecutions in the current year which are pending. This table does not include cases in the current year that are still under investigation. Prosecutions by HSE for illegal transport or storage of explosives
| Transportation | Storage | |
|---|---|---|
| 1999–2000 | — | 2 |
| 2000–01 | 2 | — |
| 2001–02 | 1 | — |
| 2002–03 | — | — |
| 2003–04 | 1 | 1 |
| Total | 4 | 3 |
Mr. Tynan: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what quantity of fireworks was seized by the Health and Safety Executive in each of the last five years. [135642]
Mr. Browne: The Health and Safety at Work Act only provides powers to seize fireworks in cases where there is imminent danger. There have been no such cases in any of the last five years.
Where the fireworks do not present an imminent danger the Health and Safety Executive will serve an enforcement notice requiring the owner to arrange for the fireworks to be removed to a legal storage place. The information in the table gives the number of enforcement notices issued over the last five years.
Where there are concerns over the safety of the fireworks HSE will work with the local authority to arrange for the fireworks to be dealt with safely and where necessary for enforcement action to be taken by the local authority under the Firework Safety Regulations 1999.
In addition to requiring the removal HSE will also prosecute where there is sufficient evidence of illegal storage (or other breaches of the legal requirements).
| Enforcement notices | |
|---|---|
| 1999–2000 | 0 |
| 2000–01 | 1 |
| 2001–02 | 0 |
| 2002–03 | 0 |
| 2003–04 | 5 |
Fostering and Adoption
Mr. Peter Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when he last met fostering and adoption groups to discuss benefit payment levels. [136502]
10 Nov 2003 : Column 147W
Mr. Pond: The ministerial team of the Department of Work and Pensions meet with a wide range of groups to discuss and further the work of the Department. However, none of the Ministers have met recently with fostering and adoption groups to discuss benefit payment levels.
Health and Safety
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:
| 2002–03(34) | 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 |
(34) provisional
Notes:
1. Figures for improvement and prohibition notices served, and prosecutions started 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 prosecutions. In Scotland, the Procurator Fiscal decides whether to bring a prosecution; HSE recommends prosecution when this is justified following an investigation.
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