Mr. James Callaghanasked the Secretary of State for Transport if he will undertake an immediate and high level investigation into the reason why the right hon. Member for Cardiff South and Penarth has received no decision on the appeal which he sent to the Secretary of State five months ago in respect of Brooks and Williams Ltd. about the withdrawal of their authorisation to carry out Department of Transport Tests; and if he will reach such a decision immediately.
§ Mr. RidleyThe right hon. Gentleman will by now have received my decision to allow Brooks and Williams' Ltd's appeal against the withdrawal of its MOT testing authorisation.
My officials conducted a thorough investigation into the incident that led to withdrawal. Initially the appeal was to have been dealt with by the speedier written method, but the appellants requested a change of procedure and an oral hearing was held on 10 November.
The investigation found clear evidence that Brooks and Williams Ltd. had issued a test certificate to a defective vehicle. Despite this, I decided to allow the firm to resume testing, taking into account the previous history of the testing station and the representations made on their behalf This decision was reached only after much deliberation. I shall expect Brooks and Williams Ltd. to maintain a satisfactory standard of testing in future.