§ Mr. Stephen Rossasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will list the number of prosecutions for offences of exceeding permitted driving hours by drivers of goods vehicles of all kinds for the latest year for which such figures are available, dividing this figure by police authority and including, if available, non-police prosecutions;
(2) if he will indicate, for the most recent years for which figures are available, the total number and the proportion of vehicles of all kinds found by the police or other authority to be in contravention of loading, safety or other regulations, where transhipment of the load or part of the load has been required, dividing this figure by police authority area;
(3) if he will list the number of prosecutions for offences of exceeding the maximum gross vehicle weight, or axle weight, of goods vehicles of all kinds for the latest year for which such information is available, dividing this figure by police authority and including, if available, non-police prosecutions.
§ Mr. MellorNo reliable information is available separately for goods vehicles. The readily available information on total court proceedings for the offences referred to, which includes non-police prosecutions but may be incomplete in respect of them, is published annually in "Offences relating to motor vehicles, England and Wales, Supplementary Tables" (Table 5 of the issue for 1985), copies of which are in the Library. Information by police force area is also given in Table 17 of the same publication but relates to total findings of guilt in the broader categories "work record and employment offences" and "load offences".