§ Mrs. Ray MichieTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on his policy towards lorry regulation, in the light of the National Audit Office report entitled "Regulation of Heavy Lorries", particularly in relation to the number of bridges which are not considered strong enough to cope with the level of freight they are carrying.
§ Mr. Peter BottomleyAs the NAO report noted, the Department's policy is to maximise the net benefits of road transport by lorry while taking full account of the effect of heavy lorries on people and the environment. The Committee of Public Accounts published its own report on the regulation of heavy lorries on 2 March and the Government will respond to that shortly.
On bridge strengthening, I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to my right hon. Friend the Member for Worthing (Mr. Higgins) on 24 November 1987 at column 110.