§ Lord O'Haganasked Her Majesty's Government:
Why school minibuses are not exempted from the tachograph regulation.
§ The Earl of AvonThe tachograph regulation is a part of Community law which was enacted before the United Kingdom's accession; I cannot therefore say why school minibuses were not among the specific exemptions.
However, many school minibuses benefit from the exemption for passenger vehicles with no more than 15 seats overall and used on journeys wholly within the United Kingdom, or from the exemption for passenger vehicles used on regular services. It is also strongly arguable that the tachograph regulation does not apply to any privately owned and driven vehicles including school-owned buses as normally used in this country. There is no likelihood of a privately owned and driven minibus being prosecuted in this country under this regulation.
House adjourned at seventeen minutes past eight o'clock.