Thank you for the letter dated 22 March requesting further information concerning conviction rates for prosecutions of ports and other relevant companies undertaken by HSE.

  My apologies for the slight delay in forwarding this to you, but we had to run various checks to ensure the information is completely accurate. The information is as follows:

  Under SIC 63220, "Supporting services to water transport", 14 prosecutions under health and safety at work legislation have been heard in court for the four year period from 1 April 1996 to 31 March 2000. The 14 defendants were found guilty on 22 of 24 informations laid, the remaining two informations being withdrawn as alternatives.

  Under SICs 61100—61202 "Water transport", during the same period, three charges concerning work in docks have been heard against a further three defendants. All three defendants were found guilty of the charges against them.

  Thus every defendant over the last four years up to March 2000 has been convicted on at least one charge and of the 27 charges taken, two were withdrawn as alternatives, and none were lost.

  When we spoke on Wednesday, you indicated the Committee might appreciate some further comment on how HSE approaches casualisation issues. I am collating some information, and will write again shortly. We would, however, like to thank the Committee for inviting us to attend and give oral evidence in support of our written memorandum.

  I hope this is helpful.

Graeme Henderson

Head of Marine Policy

29 March 2001