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25 Jan 2007 : Column 1980W—continued


HSE inspectors have a range of tools at their disposal to help secure compliance with the law, and to ensure a proportionate response to criminal offences. Inspectors may offer duty holders information, and advice, both face to face and in writing. This may include warning a duty holder that in the opinion of the inspector, they are failing to comply with the law. Where appropriate, inspectors may also serve improvement and prohibition notices, or they may prosecute. The choice of enforcement action is proportionate to the breach.

Improvement notices are served when in the opinion of the inspector an offence has been committed, but which, in the opinion of the inspector, can be remedied within a given timescale.

HSE's enforcement policy is normally to prosecute those who fail to comply with an improvement notice. However, there are occasions when it is not appropriate to prosecute and no further action is taken in relation to the notice. This would normally occur where prosecution is not in the public interest (for example, the client has ceased trading or, they have done enough work to essentially comply but there may be a minor deficiency which does not give rise to a health and safety risk). However, it should be noted that HSE will continue to monitor and enforce health and safety standards in these cases.

Sir Peter Soulsby: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what representations he has received from (a) employees and (b) employee organisations within the higher education sector on (i) the frequency and effectiveness of inspections by health and safety executive (HSE) inspectors and (ii) the level of unresolved complaints to the HSE about higher education institutions. [115505]

Mrs. McGuire: No DWP Ministers have received such representations during the last five years. However, if organisations or individuals have concerns they are welcome to write to the HSE.

Background:

1. In marshalling HSE’s inspection resource, HSE seeks to target poor performers. The key criteria in establishing the frequency of inspections are the risks presented by particular duty holders, premises or industries and the ability and willingness of duty holders to manage those risks. Where the risk is low and duty holders’ ability high, visits are less frequent than where the risk is high and duty holders are failing to manage those risks. In targeting the inspection resource in this way, HSE believes it has the greatest impact on reducing work-related deaths, injuries and ill-health.

2. In 2003, HSE ceased to set targets for the number of inspection contacts. Such targets encouraged short visits to low risk places, whereas the Health and Safety Commission's strategy for workplace health and safety 2010 sought a sharper focus on injury and ill-health priorities, and more substantial contacts with a carefully selected range of duty holders. Over the last five years or so, the actual time HSE inspectors have spent interacting with and encouraging duty holders has increased by 23 per cent.

3. Important as inspection is, the frequency of inspections is not a particularly useful metric. The Health and Safety Commission’s strategy fully recognises the importance of inspection, and the threat of enforcement, as a powerful motivator for improved standards. But to be most effective, they need to sit alongside other interventions, such as encouraging partnership working, communications, and so on.

Inspection in Higher Education

4. HSE sees higher education as a mature sector. The risks are for the most part well known (including those associated with laboratory work with hazardous chemicals), well understood, well managed and there
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are well-established networks and institutions for their management. In line with the approach set out in paras 1-3 above, HSE has therefore no general proactive inspection programme.

5. However, this year, some proactive inspection will take place examining higher education institution’s management of work-related stress—HSE Inspectors will visit about 120 universities. Work related stress is one of the priority topics identified in the Commissions strategy for workplace health and safety 2010

6. This inspection activity follows a series of seminars in the autumn of 2006, to which all higher education institutions were invited—and which nearly 50 per cent. of all institutions attended—designed to equip institutions with knowledge and skills to tackle work-related stress through the use of HSE’s Stress Management Standards. This programme of inspection will look at whether the Management Standards (or any equivalent approach) is being used, or if it is, assist in ensuring action is maintained.


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7. A second programme of inspection activity will look at the management of slipping and tripping hazards—a hazard the sector recognises as a particular issue—another of the Commission’s priority topics. These inspections will follow a series of nationwide seminars run by HSE, in partnership with the sector, which will equip attendees with the knowledge and skills to manage slips and trips.

Incapacity Benefit

Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in each local authority ward in Peterborough constituency received incapacity benefit in each year since its introduction. [114846]

Mrs. McGuire: The available information is in the following table.

Incapacity benefit and severe disablement allowance claimants by local authority ward in Peterborough at the dates shown—by 2003 ward boundaries
May
2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000

Barnack

40

40

40

50

35

35

35

Bretton North

485

485

490

490

480

455

420

Bretton South

130

130

130

120

115

110

110

Central

570

595

600

650

630

630

635

Dogsthorpe

600

635

595

605

605

590

565

East

555

565

570

535

560

555

545

Eye and Thorney

190

180

175

175

180

160

165

Fletton

395

385

340

350

350

350

325

Glinton and Wittering

105

105

90

90

105

100

100

Newborough

60

70

75

75

75

70

70

North

355

335

325

315

310

280

275

Northborough

40

40

45

50

40

45

50

Orton Longueville

545

525

520

510

510

475

455

Orton Waterville

245

230

240

260

250

250

240

Orton with Hampton

145

145

130

110

105

110

90

Park

270

260

255

255

275

265

255

Paston

460

470

455

450

455

425

400

Ravensthorpe

425

420

445

430

420

390

395

Stanground Central

405

395

370

370

350

355

335

Stanground East

130

140

135

130

120

120

115

Walton

240

240

225

230

225

220

225

Werrington North

265

270

265

265

275

265

265

Werrington South

165

180

175

170

165

175

165

West

240

230

225

230

240

255

225

Notes:
1. All figures supplied have been rounded to protect the confidentiality of claimants.
2. All data represent a snapshot in time of claimants on the computer system, and will therefore exclude a very small number of cases that are held clerically.
3. Areas have been defined by matching claimants’ postcodes recorded on the computer systems to the look-up list provided. Any claimants with missing, partial or incorrect postcodes may be excluded.
4. Ward level data are not available prior to August 1999.
Source:
DWP Information Directorate Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study 100 per cent. data

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