Written question asked by Andy King (Labour) on Thursday, 1 July 2004, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 1 September 2004. It was answered by Lord Hutton of Furness (Labour) on Wednesday, 1 September 2004 on behalf of the Department of Health.

Dept of Health

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether the Government achieved its target of eradicating the fire safety backlog on the NHS estate by March 2003; what further progress has been made towards meeting his earlier target of making 90 per cent. of the NHS estate health and safety compliant by March; what percentage of the NHS estate was health and safety compliant and what the cost was of the health and safety repair backlog, in (a) March 2003 and (b) March 2004. - Inc figures and fact that will write.

Answer: Andy King: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) whether the Government achieved their target of eradicating the fire safety backlog on the NHS estate by March 2003; [182450] (2) what further progress has been made towards meeting his earlier target of making 90 per cent. of the NHS estate health and safety compliant by March; [182451] (3) what percentage of the NHS estate was health and safety compliant and what the cost was of the health and safety repair backlog, in (a) March 2003 and (b) March 2004. [182452] Mr. Hutton: Trusts that did not report full compliance will cover a wide variety of conditions, including that which is only just below standard. At 31 March 2003, 9 per cent. of patient-occupied floor area was below health and safety compliance and 7.10 per cent, below statutory fire safety standards. Trusts manage high-risk deficiencies as a priority in order to ensure that premises are intrinsically safe and not of concern to local enforcement bodies. The cost of the health and safety repair backlog is currently being validated and on completion I will write to my hon. Friend.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 424 c916-7W;424 c916W; 182450;182451;182452
Session: 2003-04
Subjects: Costs Health and safety Fires NHS Standards Safety Repairs and maintenance
Contains statistics: Yes
Link: View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk