Mr. Spearingasked the Secretary of State for Transport if he will tabulate in the Official Report the number of heavy commercial vehicles given spot roadside checks in the United Kingdom and Greater London, respectively, in 1983 to date together with the number in each category found with defective brakes, other mechanical shortcomings and overloading, respectively.
Mrs. ChalkerDuring the period January-May 1983 the results of spot checks on HGVs for documentation and overloading were:
Checked Weighed Overloaded Great Britain 84,000 24,827 2,775 Metropolitan Traffic Area 9,000 1,981 346 Local authority trading standards officers also carry out weight checks but these figures are not readily available.
Information on spot checks of the mechanical condition of HGVs is as yet only available up to 31 March 1983. As this work is seasonal I have included results for both that three-month period and for the preceding nine months:
229W
Checked Prohibitions issued (a) Great Britain
Checked Prohibitions issued 1 April 1982 to 31 December 1982 48,434 9,616 1 January 1983 to 21 March 1983 8,219 1,645 (b) Metropolitan Traffic Area 1 April 1982 to 31 December 1982 5,120 1,674 1 January 1983 to 21 March 1983 472 213 I regret that the defects found in those cases cannot be categorised except with extreme difficulty and at disproportionate cost.
Details of checks on weight or mechanical condition are not held for Greater London. The metropolitan traffic area records give the closest approximation.
The figures omit Northern Ireland, for which my right hon. Friend has no responsibility.