§ Mr. Marplesasked the Minister of Public Building and Works what plans he has to reduce the number of tyre sizes and types currently in use by his Department.
§ Mr. John SilkinMy Ministry is in the process of rationalising its vehicle fleet. This will result in a reduction in the number of tyre sizes and types used.
§ Mr. Marplesasked the Minister of Public Building and Works whether his Department buys retreaded or remoulded tyres; and what proportion of the total tyres procured in the most recent convenient year these represented.
§ Mr. John SilkinMy Department does not buy retreaded or remoulded tyres. Occasionally a suitable used tyre is remoulded for the Ministry by approved specialist contractors. In 1968–69 remoulded tyres represented about 0.5 per cent. of the Department's total requirements.
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§ Mr. Marplesasked the Minister of Public Building and Works if he will give the total expenditure of his Department on tyres during the most convenient recent year, together with the total number of tyres bought during that year; and if he will indicate the breakdown between those bought directly by his own Department and those bought on his behalf by other Departments, showing a breakdown of those other Departments.
§ Mr. John SilkinRecords in my Department are not kept in such a way as to enable expenditure on tyres alone to be identified readily. I regret that it is not possible to provide a breakdown of those obtained through Ministry of Defence contracts and those purchased locally by my Department.
§ Mr. Marplesasked the Minister of Public Building and Works from how many different manufacturers his Department is buying tyres; and if he will give the total value of foreign made tyres bought by his Department during the most recent convenient year.
§ Mr. John SilkinContracts with manufacturers are arranged by the Ministry of Defence. My Department makes some local purchases of tyres, mainly through stockists, but only British-made tyres are bought in this way in the United Kingdom.
Marplesasked the Minister of Public Building and Works with how many contractors and to what total value he has contracts for the supply of tyres for periods exceeding three years from the beginning of the current financial year.
§ Mr. John SilkinNone—any such contracts would be arranged by the Ministry of Defence.
§ Mr. Marplesasked the Minister of Public Building and Works for how many years ahead his Department has contracts for the supply of tyres.
§ Mr. John SilkinLong-term contracts for tyres are placed by the Ministry of Defence.
§ Mr. Marplesasked the Minister of Public Building and Works what is the number of different tyre sizes currently in use on vehicles run by his Department, and the proportion of total tyres bought during the most recent convenient year, 558W represented by the 10 most commonly used tyre sizes.
§ Mr. John Silkin28 sizes of tyre are currently used on my Ministry's road vehicle fleet operating in the United Kingdom. Our expenditure records do not readily give a breakdown of expenditure by tyre sizes but the 10 most commonly used tyre sizes normally represent about 80 per cent. of our total requirements.
§ Mr. Marplesasked the Minister of Public Building and Works what is the present size of stocks of tyres held by his Department, expressed both in numbers of tyres and total money value of tyres.
§ Mr. John SilkinThe total number of tyres held in stock in the United Kingdom for my Department's road vehicles is 2,875 of a total money value of about £16,000.
§ Mr. Martenasked the Minister of Public Building and Works what are the criteria employed in the replacement of tyres used by his Department, expressed in terms of mileage, time or wear.
§ Mr. John SilkinTyres used by my Department are replaced when the tread pattern does not have a depth of at least 2 mm. throughout at least three-quarters of the breadth of the tread and round the entire circumference of the tyre. They are replaced earlier if the tyre becomes unsound through damage.