§ 51. Mr. Spearingasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what stocks of traffic signal equipment are kept by him or his agents; and what is the range of period between his ordering of traffic signal equipment, its delivery and installation.
§ The Under-Secretary of State for the Environment (Mr. Michael Heseltine)Neither my Department nor its agents hold stocks. Until recently the delivery periods varied from 26 weeks for standard installations to about double this time for special equipment. Installation time generally adds about two weeks. Following discussions with the manufacturers, delivery times for standard installations have been reduced to 16 weeks and subject to some changes in ordering procedure which are now being discussed with the local authority associations, this can be reduced to 11–12 weeks.
§ Mr. SpearingDoes not the Minister think, in view of this technological age, that it is very desirable that stocks of these traffic signals should be kept and their delivery timed even more quickly than it has been recently?
§ Mr. HeseltineWe are already discussing this with the local authority associations and the manufacturers, and I think the hon. Member will accept that, as we have achieved a reduction from 26 to 16 weeks during the last 12 months, this is a major step forward.