Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions he has had with TotalEnergies E&P UK Limited on what further steps that company has taken with the (a) Alwyn North, (b) Dunbar, (c) Gryphon Alpha FPSO, (d) Elgin Franklin, (e) Culzean and (f) Ailsa FSO assets to comply with their obligations under section 5(1) of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 concerning the time taken to action unmanaged Safety and Environment Critical Element maintenance and inspection work.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) wrote to TotalEnergies E&P UK Limited (Total) on 13 December 2022 following a number of inspections and requests for information relating to maintenance backlogs.

HSE required Total to take steps to avoid the increased risk from unmanaged Safety and Environment Critical Element (SECE) maintenance and inspection backlog. Total responded on 20 January 2023 with a breakdown of their unmanaged SECE maintenance and inspection work, and their performance targets for 2023.

HSE has held meetings with Total to discuss the improvements that Total are going to make in the short and medium term. Total has created a Steering Committee to oversee the progress of their planned initiatives as well as working to ensure they are sufficiently resourced to carry out the planned work.