§ Mr. Ron Lewisasked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he is yet in a position to make a further statement on the report of the Blennerhassett Committee on Drinking and Driving.
§ Dr. GilbertI have received a number of comments from representative organisations on the report of Mr. Blennerhassett's committee on drinking and driving, and have considered its recommendations in consultation with my colleagues in other Departments. The reception of the reports was overwhelmingly favourable, and confirmed that there is generally agreed to be an urgent need for further measures to counteract this growing social problem.
The Government accept the report as a basis for new drinking and driving legis- 898W lation, which will be introduced as soon as practicable. This will include provision for introducing breath analysis at the police station in place of laboratory analysis of blood and urine, but it is likely to be some time before a decision can be reached to introduce this procedure, which may have financial and manpower implications. Meanwhile an extensive programme to test equipment is being undertaken by the Home Office. The Government will also be having discussions with the representative organisations concerned in order to work out in more detail the proposals for high-risk offenders.