asked the Secretary of State for Employment, pursuant to his answers to the hon. Member for Keighley on 15 December 1978, if he will explain what has happened to the statistics on prosecutions under section 72 of the Factories Act 1961 compiled prior to 1976.

I am informed by the chairman of the Health and Safety Commission that statistics on prosecutions taken under the Factories Act 1961 were published in the annual reports of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Factories from 1962 to 1974 inclusive. Since that time statistics have been published in the industry and services reports of the Health and Safety Executive. Prior to 1976, however, no regular statistical analysis of cases by the section of the Act under which the offence occurred was carried out, and a broader classification by the character of the offence was used. A central analysis is now carried out, but an analysis of cases taken before 1976 could now be obtained only by a lengthy search of records.