To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps he has taken to discharge the requirements of the EC directives commonly known as the framework and workplace directives; what assessment he has made of the benefit of an extended and replacement designating order by virtue of section 1(2) (f) of the Fire Precautions Act 1971 for places of work, compared to making regulations under section 12 of the 1971 Act.
The health and non-fire safety requirements of the framework and workplace directives have been implemented by regulations made by my right hon. Friend. the Secretary of State for Employment. As to implementing the fire safety requirements, I would refer the hon. Member to the reply which I gave him on 7 June, Official Report, column 68.Consideration was given at the outset to implementing those requirements by making a designation order under section 1 of the Fire Precautions Act. We concluded, however, that such action would place unacceptably high burdens on employers and fire authorities. The use of regulations should, in our view, be less onerous and enable
| Awards | |||
| £800-£999 | £1,000-£1,999 | £l,000-£2,999 | |
| 1986–87 | 2,256 | ||
| 1987–88 | 2,250 | ||
| 1988–89 | 3,489 | ||
| 1990–91 | 4,357 | 10,031 | |
| 1991–92 | 17,296 | ||
| 1992–93 | [information not yet available] | ||
fire authorities to concentrate their resources on high-risk promises instead of having to inspect all workplaces, regardless of risk.