§ Mr. John Grantasked the Secretary of State for Transport how many inspection and administrative staff were employed on roadside lorry checks at 1 January 1979, 1980 and 1981; and what is the estimated number for 1982 or for the nearest convenient date.
§ Mr. David HowellThe numbers of Departmental inspection staff directly involved in roadside checks are as follows:
Number 1979 638 1980 632 1981 607 *1982 596 * estimate Administrative staff are not directly involved in checks of this type. The police and local authorities are also enforcement authorities. They carry out roadside checks but statistics on the numbers of their staff involved are not readily available.
§ Mr. John Grantasked the Secretary of State for Transport what is the estimated frequency with which lorries are stopped in the United Kingdom for official inspection; what changes have been made in these estimates since 1 January 1979; and what is the estimated future cycle of inspection.
§ Mr. David HowellVehicles are inspected by several different enforcement authorities, including my Department, and an overall estimate of the frequency of roadside lorry inspections is not available. My Department and the other authorities concerned maintain a virtually continuous programme of inspections, which will continue.
§ Mr. John Grantasked the Secretary of State for Transport how many prosecutions have resulted from roadside lorry checks for the years 1979, 1980 and 1981; and what other action has been taken by his officials as a result of such checks.
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§ Mr. David HowellProsecutions initiated by my Department as a result of roadside checks carried out by my enforcement staff are as follows:
Number 1979 9,457 1980 12,962 *1981 7,733 * To October. Such checks also give rise to many prosecutions initiated by the police and local authority trading standards officers, but statistics for these are not readily available. In addition my enforcement staff impose an average of about 6,500 prohibitions annually on vehicles found to be overloaded or in a dangerously defective mechanical condition.