§ 32. Sir B. Jannerasked the Minister of Transport whether he is aware that motor cars which are being assembled, the major portion of which are parts taken from motor cars made more than ten years ago, are not subject to the test for vehicles of over ten years of age; and what steps he proposes to take to ensure that such assembled cars are fit for the road.
§ Mr. HayWe are aware of the situation to which the hon. Member refers, though not all cars assembled in this way are outside the scope of the testing scheme.
This is a very difficult problem, but we are exploring the possibility of bringing such vehicles within the ambit of the scheme.
§ Sir B. JannerIn view of the serious nature of the position, will the Minister assure the House that in this type of case, where parts are greater than the whole, he will see to it that those parts are properly examined when they are used in a car? Does not the Minister regard this as an extremely serious and important matter and a transgression against what he intends doing with regard to old cars?
§ Mr. HayOn the face of it I agree that it looks serious, but I am advised that it is not as serious as it seems for the reason that the majority of these cars about which we are talking are constructed by amateurs on a do-it-yourself basis, and usually the amount of expertise and technical knowledge they bring to the making of these cars is greater than that of some of the commercial manufacturers. Moreover, I think that we have to bear in mind that the reduction by stages of the age limit of vehicles subject to test will bring these vehicles within the ambit of the scheme in due course.