WORKING CHILDREN AT RISK

That this House notes 607 school age children were injured at work in 2004-05 according to the Health and Safety Executive; condemns the Government's decision to abandon all but one of the proposals in the 2004 Better Regulation Task Force report to improve workplace safety for under-16s; further notes the report sought to streamline the confusing morass of local and national laws governing the employment of children; further notes that according to the TUC under-16s rarely have work permits or risk assessments in line with the Children and Young Persons Act 1933; is concerned that this lack of oversight can lead to children working in dangerous, unsuitable circumstances; further notes a 15-year-old boy lost his hand in machinery whilst working in a shop in Oldham on 16th September; and further calls on the Government to implement the findings of the 2004 Better Regulation Task Force by consolidating child employment legislation and introducing a system of registration in which employers register with their local authority as an employer of school age children, rather than applying for a permit for each child employee.