§ Ms WalleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) if he will list the organisations that were invited to submit comments on his consultation paper on the deregulation of goods vehicle operator licensing;
(2) if he will list the names of the individuals and organisations who also responded to his consultation paper on the deregulation of goods vehicle licensing.
§ Mr. KeySixty-three representative organisations were invited to submit comments to the consultation document. I am placing a full list of the organisations in the Library. Fifteen of them responded to the consultation.
In addition I refer the hon. Member to my previous answer of 27 October, Official Report, column 542, which gives the main organisations that replied. It is not our normal practice to publish the names of individuals who have responded to consultation exercises of this sort.
§ Ms WalleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport how often utility emergency vehicles exempt from goods vehicle operator licensing have to be used for emergency work to gain an exemption.
§ Ms WalleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what are the reasons for the difference between vehicles exempted from goods vehicle operator licensing and exempt vehicles as listed in the "Annual Abstract of Statistics 1993", page 191 table 10.5; and how it is possible to accurately count exempt vehicles in table 10.5 but not to supply information on the number of vehicles exempt from goods vehicle operator licensing.
§ Mr. KeyThe table referred to concerns vehicle licensing rather than operator licensing, and the exemptions mentioned are those for vehicles requiring licensing but exempt from the payment of vehicle excise duty, VED. The records kept by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency of licensed vehicles show whether or not they are exempt from VED, so it is possible to count such vehicles. There are no records of vehicles not subject to operator licensing.
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§ Ms WalleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will now carry out a study into whether vehicles exempt from goods vehicles operator licensing are more or less likely to be involved in accidents than licensed vehicles; and if he will collect accident statistics in such a way that those accidents involving exempt vehicles are easily distinguishable.
§ Mr. KeyThe number of exempt vehicles over 3.5 tonnes is estimated to be relatively small compared to the total vehicle population. I have no indications that they are disproportionately involved in accidents. Collecting data on accident rates as proposed would be expensive and I do not regard it as justified.
§ Ms WalleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what is the definition of a local authority weights and measures vehicle; and for what reasons such vehicles are exempt from goods vehicle operator licensing.
§ Mr. KeyFor the purposes of goods vehicle operator licensing, it is a vehicle which is being used by a local authority for the purposes of the enactments relating to weights and measures or the sale of food and drugs. We see no need for operator licensing for minor categories of vehicles, unlikely to pose safety or other problems.
§ Ms WalleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what consideration he has given to extending goods vehicle operator licensing to electrically propelled vehicles.
§ Mr. KeyWe are currently reviewing the list of exemptions from operator licensing and will consider both whether to add additional categories such as electrically propelled vehicles or to exempt further categories.
§ Ms WalleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport if recovery vehicles exempt from goods vehicle operator licensing have to be used solely for recovery work to gain exemption.
§ Ms WalleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport if vehicles used to carry materials for road and motorway construction are exempt from goods vehicle operator licensing if used for other work; and if he will consider extending operator licensing regulations to such vehicles.
§ Mr. KeyThe exemption applies to trailers only, in cases where they are not constructed primarily for the carriage of goods but are being used incidentally for that purpose in connection with the construction, maintenance or repair of roads. This exemption would for instance cover trailers incorporating road-building machinery which carry specialised road-building materials in order to perform their functions. We are currently reviewing the list of exemptions.
§ Ms WalleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport if ambulances operated by private sector companies are exempt from goods vehicle operator licensing.