Roadside Emission Testing (Hansard, 16 March 1998)

§ Viscount Simon
asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they intend to monitor how magistrates' courts deal with motorists who are prosecuted following roadside emissions tests. [HL987]

§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions (Baroness Hayman)
Yes. The local authorities involved in the pilot scheme will provide the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions with details of prosecutions and the results.

§ Viscount Simon
asked Her Majesty's Government:
What is the estimated cost of setting up roadside emission testing. [HL1007]

§ Baroness Hayman
All of the local authorities involved in the trial have borne their own set-up costs. The estimated total costs to each could be up to £114,000 for a full year's work. The details are given in the compliance cost assessment which was deposited in the Library last December.
114WA

§ Viscount Simon
asked Her Majesty's Government:
What they estimate is the likely income to local authorities from the roadside emission test pilot scheme. [HL986]

§ Baroness Hayman
The level of fixed penalties which were agreed by Parliament last year are intended to enable local authorities to recover the costs of enforcement and no more. The details were given in a compliance cost assessment which was deposited in the Library of the House last December.

§ Viscount Simon
asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will establish an independent monitor to evaluate the roadside emission pilot schemes, taking particular note of:

(a) the number of people rectifying their vehicular emissions following a failure of the test;

(b) the service records of those stopped;

(c) public reaction to testing;

(d) the age and type of vehicles failing and passing the test respectively;

(e) the impact on air quality;

(f) the cost-effectiveness of the test as an awareness-raising measure compared with other methods;

(g) the training given to local authority staff.

§ Baroness Hayman
We are making appropriate arrangements to monitor and evaluate the trial of the local authority emission-checking scheme.