MPs call for FFI to be expanded to local authorities

The All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Occupational Safety and Health recently published a report looking at the enforcement of health and safety by Local Authorities.

APPGs are informal cross-party groups run by and for Members of the Commons and Lords to provide a forum for the discussion and promotion of specific issues. While these groups have no official status within Parliament the subjects that they consider and the reports they release can give a guide to the issues that are of interest to members of parliament.

This particular report looks at the recent fall in inspection activity by local authority officers and relations between the HSE and Local authorities.

One area considered is local Authority funding for inspection and enforcement activity. The report recommends that the Fee For Intervention scheme currently operated by the HSE is expanded to include local authorities and states this “could prove to be an incentive to local councils to improve their levels of enforcement activity”.

Fee For Intervention was launched in October 2012 and allows the HSE to charge organisations for the costs involved in investigating, issuing notices and assisting in correcting material breaches of health and safety regulations.

The report also recommends that all new enterprises should receive a visit as soon as is practical.

The APPG is chaired by Jo Stevens MP and the report can be found on Jo Stevens website at: http://jostevens.co.uk/report-local-authorities-and-health-and-safety/