Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the effect on small and medium-sized enterprises of the Fee for Intervention scheme used by the Health and Safety Executive.

In June 2014, an independent review panel was asked to examine the Fee for Intervention (FFI) scheme and its application. As part of that review, the panel were asked to consider the financial impact of the scheme on businesses. The panel took into consideration:

· the range of the values invoiced;

· the number of invoices issued;

· the profile of the sizes of businesses invoiced;

· whether or not invoices were being paid; and,

· how HSE is helping those businesses which may have difficulty in paying.

The panel concluded that FFI ‘had proven effective in achieving the overarching policy aim of shifting the cost of health and safety regulation from the public purse to those businesses that break health and safety laws’. They recognised that a financial burden was created for organisations found to be in material breach; however, the evidence suggested that the majority of invoices are being paid and that HSE is taking a proportionate and supportive approach to those who are in financial difficulty.