§ Dr. Roger Thomasasked the Secretary of State for Transport whether he proposes to reduce the area headquarters of South Wales traffic area from thirteen to seven; whether he proposes to close the facilities at several places including Carmarthen; and if he will make it his policy not to merge the South Wales traffic area with the West Midlands.
§ Mr. David HowellThe South Wales traffic area contains one headquarters office—at Cardiff—13 full-time and 10 part-time driving test centres. I have no plans at present to reduce the number of these offices. My Department will have to vacate the premises used for the part-time driving test centre at Carmarthen towards the end of the year, but the Property Services Agency is urgently seeking alternative accommodation and I have no intention of discontinuing the provision of facilities at Carmarthen. As for the merger of traffic areas, we are currently considering various options for new traffic area boundaries in consultation with my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Wales. I shall not reach a final conclusion on any change before considering the response to a forthcoming consultation document on this issue.