HC Deb 09 February 1977 vol 925 c704W
Mr. Rooker

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will publish details of the international design standards which his Department's tricycle will not meet and specify the legislation which requires Her Majesty's Government to subscribe to the standards.

Mr. Alfred Morris

Invalid tricycles now in production comply with the relevant construction and use regulations now in force in Great Britain. They do not comply with requirements in relation to interior fittings and external projections which will be demanded from 1st October 1978, under the Motor Vehicles (Type Approvals) (Great Britain) Regulations. I understand that requirements about dual circuit braking, already included in an EEC directive, which the tricycle will not meet, may also be brought into effect, by way of further regulations, in 1978. Her Majesty's Government do not deem it appropriate to supply vehicles that would not comply with the regulations applicable to the generality of private motor vehicles. It is, in any event, unavoidable that a specially designed three-wheeled vehicle, with its inherent limitations, will increasingly fail to match the progress of design and performance demanded of modern road vehicles.