§ 7. Mr. Ashtonasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will call for a report from the chief constable as to why Nottinghamshire has a higher rate of prosecutions for overloading of lorries than any other county.
§ Mr. CarlisleThe prosecution rates for different offences must depend on such factors as the incidence of the offence, the competing claims for police attention, and the way in which the chief officer of police has decided to deploy his resources. It would be difficult to establish why rates differ in different areas, and I do not think it would be worthwhile to try.
§ Mr. AshtonHas the hon. and learned Gentleman seen the report in the AA magazine Drive in which it is said that the police in Nottinghamshire have secured more than 1,100 convictions for the overloading of lorries while the police in Bedfordshire have secured only one? Why is it that in areas where disasters occur when there is fog on the motorways, disasters caused because lorries are overloaded, the local police do virtually nothing? Why do they not follow the example of the Nottinghamshire police?
§ Mr. CarlisleI was aware that the hon. Gentleman's Question arose out of that article. The decision whether to prosecute must be for the chief constable. Clearly, factors differ between areas, but I will draw the hon. Gentleman's comment to the attention of the Chief Constable of Bedfordshire.