Construction union Ucatt blasted ministers yesterday for slashing vital health and safety inspections without any investigation into the impact.

The Department for Work and Pensions announced in 2011 that it would cut the number of proactive, or unannounced, inspections by the Health and Safety Executive by a third.

It meant capping knock-on-door probes to 22,000 a year, effectively ending proactive investigations in many sectors including agriculture, quarries and docks.