§ Mrs. DunwoodyTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) if he will list the sources of legal advice obtained by the Vehicle Inspectorate; [21772]
(2) how many vehicles were found not to be displaying a valid operator's licence in each spot check undertaken by the Vehicle Inspectorate in the last year; [21961]
(3) how many vehicle spot checks were undertaken by the police or the Vehicle Inspectorate on tankers used to transport oil from south Pembrokeshire beaches to oil refineries in Milford Haven in the last year; and how many prohibition notices were issued; [21960]
(4) if he will place in the Library the results of the Vehicle Inspectorate staff attitude survey. [21775]
§ Mr. NorrisI have asked the chief executive of the Vehicle Inspectorate to write to the hon. Member.
457WLetter from Ron Oliver to Mrs. Gwyneth Dunwoody, dated 25 March 1996:
The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your questions concerning:(1) the sources of legal advice obtained by the Vehicle Inspectorate (VI);(2) the number of vehicles found not to be displaying a valid operator's licence in each spot check undertaken by the VI in the last year;(3) the number of vehicle spot checks undertaken by the police or the VI on tankers used to transport oil from South Pembrokeshire beaches to oil refineries in Milford Haven in the last year, and the number of prohibition notices issued; and(4) the Vehicle Inspectorate's Staff Attitude Survey.The Vehicle Inspectorate seeks legal advice from one of three sources: the Department of Transport's own Legal Branch, the Treasury Solicitors and from contracted solicitors. Contracted solicitors are based around the country to deal with regional prosecution cases.With regard to (2), this information is not collected as the non-display of a disc does not necessarily indicate an operator operating outside the "O" licence system.Four tankers have been examined, three by our Traffic Examiners and one by Vehicle Examiners, at normal roadside checks. None of the vehicles were issued with prohibition notices.A copy of the Survey has been forwarded to the Library.
§ Mrs. DunwoodyTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what was the number of additional enforcement staff employed as a result of the recent £495,000 increase in the Vehicle Inspectorate's budget. [22348]
§ Mr. NorrisI have asked the chief executive of the Vehicle Inspectorate to write to the hon. Member.
Letter from Ron Oliver to Mrs. Gwyneth Dunwoody, dated 25 March 1996:
The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your recent question concerning the number of additional enforcement staff employed as a result of the increase in the Vehicle Inspectorate's budget.The additional £495,000 funding will allow the Inspectorate to maintain frontline staff numbers in 1996/97 including the additional 14 posts created in 1995/96.