Asked by: Rebecca Long Bailey (Labour - Salford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps the Health and Safety Executive is taking to help tackle incidents of workplace sexual harassment; and what procedures it follows to identify workplace sexual harassment during workplace inspections.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Whilst the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 could apply to harassment offences in the workplace, the Health and Safety Executive’s (HSE) long standing position is that it does not seek to regulate or apply health and safety at work legislation where another regulator has specific responsibility or there is more directly applicable legislation.
A specific purpose of The Equality Act 2000 is to tackle sexual harassment in the workplace and from 26 October 2024, employers are under a new legal duty to take reasonable steps to prevent the sexual harassment of staff at work.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission and the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service have published extensive guidance on sexual harassment in the workplace, provide advice to individuals and organisations, and will help individual people with their legal cases in seeking civil remedies to instances of sexual harassment. HSE works closely with other regulators to promote co-operation, share intelligence and where appropriate, co-ordinate on joint regulatory activities.
Workplace sexual harassment is unlawful under legislation such as the Equality Act 2010, the Protection from Harassment Act 1997, and the Sexual Offences Act 2003. The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) directly addresses incidents of discrimination and sexual harassment under the Equality Act 2010, ensuring that employers meet their obligations to prevent these issues.
As there are other better placed regulators, HSE inspectors do not raise the issue during workplace inspections.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the proportion of schools that have asbestos present; and what steps she is taking to reduce levels of asbestos in schools.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department takes the safety of children, and those who work with them, incredibly seriously which is why we expect all local authorities, governing bodies and academy trusts as responsible bodies to have robust plans in place to manage asbestos in school buildings effectively, in line with their legal duties, drawing on appropriate professional advice.
As the regulator for asbestos, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) undertook inspections of a number of schools across the UK between September 2022 and April 2023 to look at compliance under the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012. The inspections showed that most schools were complying with the legal duties, and effective management systems are in place to manage and monitor the condition of asbestos-contained materials onsite.
The department is collecting data on the condition of school buildings in England as part of the Condition Data Collection 2 (CDC2) programme. To date, we have visited 18,029 schools and 13,592 (75.4%) have reported they have asbestos. The department follows the advice of the HSE as regulator that, as long as asbestos-containing materials are undamaged, and not in locations where they are vulnerable to damage, they should be left undisturbed, and their condition monitored.
The department has been clear, however, that when asbestos does pose a risk to safety and cannot be effectively managed in place, it should be removed. The decision to remove asbestos should be considered on a case-by-case basis and, annual condition funding provided by the department can be used for this purpose.
As part of the 2025/26 budget, we have increased capital allocations to improve the condition of school buildings to £2.1 billion, which represents £300 million more than this financial year. This is on top of the School Rebuilding Programme and targeted support for reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete.
Asked by: Helen Whately (Conservative - Faversham and Mid Kent)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what accountability mechanisms are in place for (a) the Health and Safety Executive, (b) Kent Fire and Rescue Service, (c) Swale Borough Council and (d) the Environment Agency to ensure the adequacy of safety inspections of the batteries at Cleve Hill Solar Park.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Requirement 3 of the Cleve Hill Solar Park Order 2020 made Swale Borough Council responsible for the regulation of the Battery Safety Management Plan. The plan was informed following consultation with the Health and Safety Executive and Kent Fire and Rescue Service. Swale Borough Council will be responsible for providing regulation and oversight of the construction and operation of the development.
Asked by: Valerie Vaz (Labour - Walsall and Bloxwich)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made a recent assessment of the prevalence of asbestos in school buildings in Walsall and Bloxwich constituency.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department takes the safety of children and those who work with them incredibly seriously, which is why we expect all local authorities, governing bodies and academy trusts as responsible bodies to have robust plans in place to manage asbestos in school buildings effectively, in line with their legal duties, drawing on appropriate professional advice.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE), as the regulator for asbestos, undertook inspections of a number of schools across the UK between September 2022 and April 2023 to look at compliance under Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012. The inspections showed that most schools were complying with the legal duties and effective management systems are in place to manage and monitor the condition of asbestos-contained materials onsite.
Additionally, the department is collecting data on the condition of school buildings in England as part of the Condition Data Collection 2 (CDC2) programme, in which we will visit all government-funded school buildings in England between 2021 and 2026. To date, we have visited 46 schools in the Walsall and Bloxwich constituency, and 33 schools have reported the presence of asbestos. CDC2 visits to the remaining schools in the constituency are scheduled to be completed by September 2025.
The department follows the advice of the HSE as regulator that, as long as asbestos-containing materials are undamaged, and not in locations where they are vulnerable to damage, they should be left undisturbed and their condition monitored.
The department has been clear, however, that when asbestos does pose a risk to safety and cannot be effectively managed in place, it should be removed. The decision to remove asbestos should be considered on a case-by-case basis and, annual condition funding provided by the department can be used for this purpose.
As part of the 2025/26 budget, we have increased capital allocations to improve the condition of school buildings to £2.1 billion, £300 million more than this financial year. This is on top of the School Rebuilding Programme and targeted support for reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC).
Asked by: Helen Whately (Conservative - Faversham and Mid Kent)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will instruct the Health and Safety Executive to provide information on their planned inspections of battery storage units at Cleve Hill Solar Park before they are switched on.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) received your correspondence dated 19 March 2024 and 28 March 2025 regarding Cleve Hill Solar Park. HSE sent a reply to both pieces of correspondence on 27 March 2024 and 10 April 2025 respectively. I have asked HSE to re-send these replies in case you have not received them.
As HSE has stated in their responses, based on their current understanding of the activities proposed at the Cleve Hill Solar Farm it would be unlikely that they would undertake an inspection prior to the facility becoming operational. Responsibility for the safety of the operations remains with the operator of the facility who should ensure compliance with the relevant regulations. HSE has recently developed web guidance for Grid Scale Battery Energy Storage Systems to assist duty holders with compliance - Grid-scale battery energy storage systems - HSE
Asked by: Chris Law (Scottish National Party - Dundee Central)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 17 March 2025 to Question 37202 on Seasonal workers: Agriculture, how many Health and Safety Executive inspection officials are based in (a) Scotland, (b) England and (c) Wales.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
As the table below shows, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) currently employs 897 full time equivalent (FTE) inspector staff in all grades and roles including trainees, managers and specialists with warrants. There are currently 663 FTE Band 3 and 4 inspectors who undertake the delivery of the operational division workplans. This includes inspections and investigations into reported incidents and concerns and where non-compliance with health and safety legislations is identified, the inspectors take regulatory action in accordance with HSE’s published Enforcement Policy Statement.
Although HSE staff work across England, Scotland and Wales, these figures are based on the office location where the staff are employed.
Job Band | England | Scotland | Wales | Total |
SCS | 9 | 1 | - | 10 |
Band 1 | 28 | 4 | 3 | 35 |
Band 2 | 152 | 26 | 11 | 189 |
Band 3 | 377 | 94 | 42 | 513 |
Band 4 | 117 | 21 | 12 | 150 |
Total | 683 | 146 | 68 | 897 |
Asked by: Chris Law (Scottish National Party - Dundee Central)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps the Health and Safety Executive have taken to prevent health and safety hazards on farms employing workers on the Seasonal Worker visa in each of the last five years in (a) Scotland, (b) England and (c) Wales.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is Britain’s national regulator for workplace health and safety, this includes workplace health and safety risks created in agriculture.
Over the last 5 years, HSE has taken the following steps to address on-farm health and safety hazards and improve the health and safety performance of the industry for the benefit of all farm workers in Scotland, England and Wales, including seasonal workers, by:
HSE remains committed to working with the farming industry to help improve health and safety performance for the benefit of all its workers.
Asked by: Chris Law (Scottish National Party - Dundee Central)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many Health and Safety Executive Inspections of farms employing workers on the Seasonal Worker visa were conducted in each of the last five years in (a) Scotland, (b) England and (c) Wales.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is Britain’s national regulator for workplace health and safety, this includes workplace health and safety risks created in agriculture.
The table below shows the total number of farm inspections carried out by HSE over the last 5 years in Scotland, England and Wales. HSE’s farm inspection programme over those years focused on health and safety standards on site for all workers. No farm inspection programmes over the last 5 years were focused exclusively on one group of farm workers such as seasonal workers. If during a farm site visit, matters directly affecting a specific group or number of workers on a particular site were identified by the inspector, they would be dealt with accordingly.
Please see the figures for farm inspections conducted in each of the last five years in (a) Scotland, (b) England and (c) Wales:
:
| Number of Farm Inspections* | |||
YEAR** | Scotland | England | Wales | Total |
2019/20 | 143 | 534 | 18 | 695 |
2020/21 | 34 | 174 | 4 | 212 |
2021/22 | 70 | 263 | 59 | 392 |
2022/23 | 105 | 627 | 51 | 783 |
2023/24 | 22 | 424 | 34 | 480 |
2024/25 | 7 | 62 | 7 | 76 |
*defined by the Nature of business: Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) codes |
** years commencing 1st April |
Asked by: Peter Prinsley (Labour - Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will hold discussions with the Health and Safety Executive on the potential merits of taking steps encourage employers to (a) organise regular hearing tests, (b) distribute adequate personal hearing protectors and (c) implement other measures to help prevent occupational hearing loss.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Duties on employers are well established in the Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005, which require employers to:
a) Carry out hearing tests regularly by a competent person (health surveillance) when there may be a risk to their employee’s hearing, and undertake protective measures based on the results, and
b) Provide adequate personal hearing protection where noise exposure cannot be eliminated or controlled at source.
Health and Safety Executive (HSE) provides guidance and tools to help employers understand their obligations through its website, and regularly engages stakeholders to promote noise controls and ensuring hearing protection is fit for purpose in terms of its condition and specific use.
HSE enforces these regulations and is conducting a long-term programme of targeted inspections of higher risk workplaces, forming a key element of HSE’s Protecting People and Places strategy to reduce work-related ill-health in the workplace.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many cases of silicosis and how many deaths there have been during the past five years associated with exposure to respirable crystalline silica (RCS) in engineered stone worktops, and what steps they plan to take to reduce that number, in particular by inspections for RCS in manufacturing and developing tools to identify RCS exposure.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has been advised that a database which collects voluntary information from around 350 physicians on Surveillance of Work-related and Occupational Respiratory Diseases (known as SWORD) has recorded eighteen cases of silicosis where a respiratory physician has attributed the cause to working engineered stone. HSE is aware of one death.
HSE is working with industry stakeholders to establish practical guidelines to ensure workers are protected, meeting recently with manufacturers of stone products to discuss the range of possible actions for working with engineered stone. Further workshops with other stakeholders in the supply chain are proposed, aimed at determining the best focus for inspections targeting engineered stone, whilst HSE also investigates reported ill-health and concerns about inadequate risk management.