To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the future demand for Health and Safety Executive inspectors of nuclear facilities; and if he will make a statement. (186681)

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) estimates in current circumstances that around 230 full-time equivalent nuclear safety inspectors will be required at the peak of its programme of nuclear regulatory work. That estimate takes account of expanding work for HSE on assessing three designs for new reactors, an understanding of programmes for Ministry of Defence nuclear facilities, and Government plans for nuclear decommissioning. The figure excludes inspectors of other disciplines employed by HSE who are also involved in regulating nuclear facilities in other areas.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many inspectors of nuclear facilities were employed by the Health and Safety Executive in each year since 2004, broken down by region. (186682)

The Health and Safety Executive has employed the following number of nuclear safety inspectors within its Nuclear Directorate (ND) since 2004:

Except for two inspectors based in HSE’s London Office all nuclear safety inspectors operate from HSE’s headquarters in Bootle, Merseyside and are not located in regions.