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Dept for Work and Pensions

Answer

Mr. Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what punitive action was provided for prior to March 2002 by (a) statute and (b) regulation against Transco for failure to fulfil its statutory obligations to reassess its engineers' qualification to the Approved Competency Standard, and to provide an emergency service to domestic premises. [91403] Mr. Nicholas Brown: In March 1997, Transco was registered with Corgi and all its emergency service operatives were deemed to hold valid certification under the Health and Safety Commission's Approved Code of Practice (ACOP) scheme, the sole means of demonstrating safety competence then in force. As this certification was valid for five years, no action could have been taken against Transco up to March 2002. If Transco were to breach legal requirements in this area, there is a range of enforcement action available to HSE under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1994, ranging from the provision of advice to the serving of an enforcement notice and, ultimately, prosecution.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

91403; 398 c948W;398 c942-3W

Session

2002-03

Subjects

Codes of practice Health and safety Qualifications Natural gas Standards Regulation Safety Transco Engineers Approved competency standard scheme

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk