§ 2.45 p.m.
§ LORD WAKEFIELD OF KENDALMy Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.
§ [The Question was as follows:
§ To ask Her Majesty's Government what action is being taken to implement Government policy in increasing productivity and diminishing waste in respect of the one million man-hours per annum now wasted by the milk roundsmen in filling up forms as drivers of electric vehicles.]
§ LORD SHEPHERDMy Lords, the need for these forms is being considered in the review of drivers' hours and their enforcement which my right honourable friend the Minister of Transport announced last October.
§ LORD WAKEFIELD OF KENDALMy Lords, I should like to thank the noble Lord for that useful and encouraging reply. Would he draw the attention of his right honourable friend to the fact that an electrical vehicle will go only about 25 to 30 miles before having to recharge its batteries, and cannot travel at more than about 20 miles an hour? Therefore, while everybody agrees that these regulations are necessary for those vehicles which go faster and longer distances, there seems to be a case for making an exception for vehicles with such a limited range of action and speed.
§ LORD SHEPHERDMy Lords, these and other factors are very much in the mind of my right honourable friend.
§ LORD BURDENMy Lords, can the Minister say how many men are employed to check these forms, how many are checked, approximately, in six months, and how many breaches of the law were discovered by the examination?
§ LORD SHEPHERDMy Lords, I must apologise to my noble friend: I cannot answer those questions without notice.
§ LORD BURDENMy Lords, will the Minister have this question looked into to see whether this appalling waste of time in filling up forms can be dispensed with?
§ LORD SHEPHERDMy Lords, I will see that my noble friend's point is conveyed to my right honourable friend.