§ Mr. Loveridgeasked the Secretary of State for the Environment how many hauliers with an allocation of international road haulage permits have asked the IRFO in Newcastle to reissue their permits to other authorised hauliers; how many such permits have been reissued; and what have been the longest and shortest times taken to reissue any such permits.
§ Mr. MarksTo provide this information would require an examination of the records of over 5,000 individual operators. However, permits are usually transferred one week of IRFO receiving the appropriate documentation.
§ Mr. Loveridgeasked the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) how many applications have been made for international road haulage permits from companies which have subsequently gone into liquidation; how many permits were issued to such companies; and how many were used and how many were not used;
(2) what delays have occurred in the printing department responsible for the issue of international road haulage permits;
(3) what right of appeal exists for applicants who have been refused an allocation of international road haulage permits;
(4) how many applications for international road haulage permits were refused for the years 1974, 1975 and 1976; and on what grounds;
(5) how many applications for international road haulage permits were successful; and how many individual permits were allocated to each applicant for each of the years 1974, 1975 and 1976;
(6) how many applications for international road haulage permits have been 582W received for each of the years 1974, 1975 and 1976;
(7) who decides how international road haulage permits are to be allocated; and what protection there is to ensure that these are fairly distributed in order to allow small firms to obtain their fair share of permits;
(8) what criteria are used in the allocation of international road haulage permits;
(9) whether there is a shortage of staff in the international road freight offices;
(10) what is the number of international road freight offices in Great Britain; how many staff are employed at each of them; and what is their total running cost.
§ Mr. MarksAll issues of international road haulage permits to United Kingdom operators are made by the Department's International Road Freight Office (IRFO) in Newcastle upon Tyne. The staff, which at present numbers 29, is in general adequate, though some delays may occur at peak periods. I am not aware of any printing delays. The annual cost of £144,000 is entirely covered by fees.
Most types of permits are available on demand to any holder of an operator's licence. Difficulties only occur in relation to types for which the countries concerned impose limited quotas; these are at present the general quota permits for France, Federal Republic of Germany, Italy and Austria.
The criteria used for allocation are determined by the Department, in close consultation with the Road Haulage and Freight Transport Associations. The main criterion is experience to or through the countries concerned in types of operation for which permits are either not required or are readily available, particularly the road-rail 'piggy back" system or co-operation with a French or German haulier.
All applicants, large and small, are treated in the same way and many small firms receive these permits.
Liquidations do not normally throw up a surplus of permits, since totals allocated every year exceed the respective quotas by amounts calculated, in the light of experience, to cater for this. Any unused portions of quotas are carried forward to the following year. When the 583W totals have been allocated to those companies which best meet the criteria, all other applications must inevitably be refused. There is no formal machinery for appeal, but dissatisfied applicants can take up their case through their trade association. All such representations are very carefully considered.
Most of the statistical information sought is not readily available and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. However, my Department is currently preparing for publication a report on the operation of the permit system since its inception, which will include a substantial amount of statistical material. Meanwhile it may assist the hon. Member to know that currently IRFO has 5,000 operators on its books who between them receive 80,000 permits of 28 different types.
§ Mr. Loveridgeasked the Secretary of State for the Environment how many cases of forged international road haulage permits have been reported in each of the years 1974, 1975 and 1976.
§ Mr. MarksSince the coming into force of the International Road Haulage Permits Act 1975 on 1st September 1975, 39 cases involving the use of forged permits have been reported. Figures before that date are not readily available.
§ Mr. Loveridgeasked the Secretary of State for the Environment how many staff are used in investigating alleged cases of forgery of international road haulage permits.
§ Mr. MarksSuch investigation is only one of the many duties of the Department's enforcement staff, and none is exclusively used for this purpose.