§ Mr. Boothasked the Secretary of State for Transport which of the recommendations contained in the first report of the Transport Committee 1981–82 he will implement and which of the recommendations he will reject.
§ Mr. David HowellThe Government have already accepted one of the recommendations of the Transport Committee's supplementary report on HGV and PSV testing: the Transport Bill has been amended to ensure that the choice of an approved testing authority will be subject to the decision of Parliament, by affirmative resolution of both Houses. I have not accepted the Committee's recommendation that the Bill should be amended so that testing could be transferred only to a single authoritative body, but it is in fact my intention to transfer testing to a new independent association set up for that purpose and controlled by Lloyd's Register of Shipping; this is in accordance with one of the main recommendations of the Transport Committee's principal report last summer—fourth report of the Transport Committee, Session 1980–81. I have therefore accepted a great deal of what the Committee has recommended in this area, although my basic policy of transferring testing to the private sector remains unchanged.