Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 8 February 2023 to Question 139285 on Offshore Industry: Missing People, whether an installation is classified as being within territorial waters if it is beyond 12 miles but part of its windfarm is within that distance.

The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (Application outside Great Britain) Order 2013 applies the provisions of the 1974 Act to a variety of structures on the United Kingdom Continental Shelf (UKCS) which are in designated areas by virtue of an order under Section 1(7) of The Continental Shelf Act 1964 in addition to the UK territorial sea.

An offshore installation is a structure used for the exploitation, or exploration with a view to exploitation, of mineral resources (eg oil and gas) by means of a well. The 2013 Order also applies the provisions of the 1974 Act to structures in the territorial sea or in a renewable energy zone created under Section 84(4) of the Energy Act 2004. These structures include those used for the production of energy from water or wind, eg a windfarm. There are currently no offshore installations on the UKCS that have a windfarm in the territorial sea.