Oral Answers to Questions

Andrew Bridgen Excerpts

Monday 23rd April 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Duncan Smith]

I take this opportunity to congratulate my hon. Friend on the work that she has been doing on this. She is quite right that it is an important area and it is one that I have asked my Department and the Department for Education to consider together. Under the previous Government, the number of childminders fell quite dramatically. In 1996, there were about 100,000 and in 2011 that number had fallen below 60,000. That is a huge issue. When we took over, we found that the costs of child care in the UK are about the fourth highest in the world. My hon. Friend is absolutely right that there are big issues that we need to deal with and try to resolve so that we can get more people back to work with the support that they need.

[Andrew Bridgen (North West Leicestershire) (Con)]

7. What progress he has made on implementing the recommendations of the Löfstedt report on health and safety regulation.

[Mr David Ruffley (Bury St Edmunds) (Con)]

8. What progress he has made on implementing the recommendations of the Löfstedt report on health and safety regulation.

--- Later in debate ---

[Andrew Bridgen]

It was one, Mr Speaker.

I welcome the launch of the mythbusters challenge panel, designed to give quick advice to people affected by ridiculous or disproportionate health and safety decisions. Will my right hon. Friend explain how that panel will work?

[Chris Grayling]

What we are trying to do is to give people who believe that a decision that has been taken is wrong—such as a decision to cancel an event or to take some other step that will impact on their lives—a chance to go quickly to the HSE and ask whether it is based on a true interpretation. We will seek to give them a clear view within two days of whether the decision is appropriate, so that they can challenge it locally.