Traffic Examiners (Hansard, 10 March 1989)

§ Mr. Mans
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what proposals he has for improving the management of the traffic examiners and their resources.

§ Mr. Peter Bottomley
Special emphasis is being placed on improving the deployment of traffic examiners and in further developing the effectiveness of enforcement.
701W
Management of traffic examiners and their resources is being significantly improved following the implementation of the recommendations made by an efficiency review of traffic examiners and enforcement.
The introduction of an annual national enforcement plan provides for traffic examiner resources to be concentrated on major areas of enforcement including overloading, drivers hours and tachographs. Budgets and the personal objectives of the traffic examiners can be aligned more closely with the national enforcement plan targets. A restructuring of the supervisory and senior traffic examiner grades is in hand.
It is proposed to appoint an enforcement manager in each traffic area office and headquarters with increased responsibilities for planning and directing enforcement and the more effective use of resources to support the national enforcement plan.
Senior traffic examiners will also have increased responsibilities for local enforcement of their geographical sectors and for the management of their teams, which are being increased in size.

§ Mr. Mans
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he has any proposals for traffic examiners to prosecute guilty plea cases against HGV/PSV operators and drivers without using solicitors.

§ Mr. Peter Bottomley
Yes. That was one of the accepted recommendations of an efficiency review of traffic examiners and enforcement.
Trials have been carried out which have proved the efficiency and cost effectiveness of this method. From 1 April, all traffic examiners in England and Wales will prosecute a proportion of guilty plea cases. In Scotland prosecutions will continue to be handled by the procurator fiscal.

§ Mr. John Greenway
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the responsibilities and duties of the traffic examiners.

§ Mr. Peter Bottomley
Traffic examiners are appointed by the Secretary of State under section 56 of the Road Traffic Act 1972. They enforce road safety legislation governing the use of United Kingdom based and foreign operated HGVs and PSVs, including the requirements of goods and passenger operator licensing, vocational drivers licensing, tachographs and drivers' records, vehicle weights and construction and use regulations. Their work is a much valued contribution to road casualty reduction. Traffic examiners are departmental staff deployed and managed locally in the traffic areas. They support the Secretary of State and the traffic commissioners by ensuring that the targets set out in the Department's annual national enforcement plan are met and that resources are used effectively in meeting the priorities contained in the enforcement plan.

§ Mr. John Greenway
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if any traffic area offices have had to limit prosecutions of HGV operators and drivers because of financial constraints.

§ Mr. Peter Bottomley
Only in the Leeds traffic area office were some cases not presented to solicitors between October and December 1988. This was because a number of large and costly cases absorbed a large part of the702W budget allocation. Despite that, three times more cases were prosecuted between April and December 1988 than in the corresponding period of 1987.

§ Mr. John Greenway
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if the Leeds traffic area office has sufficient resources to allow offences reported by traffic examiners to be prosecuted.

§ Mr. Peter Bottomley
Yes. Extra resources have now been made available to the Leeds Office, and cases a re either being referred to solicitors, or being presented in court by traffic examiners. Warning letters are also being sent to operators and drivers by the traffic area office.

§ Mr. Jaques Arnold
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many heavy goods and passenger vehicles will be examined by traffic examiners in the current year; and if he will make a statement about the levels of enforcement proposed for 1990.

§ Mr. Peter Bottomley
The Department's national enforcement plan for 1988–89 provides for 285,000 United Kingdom and foreign-registered goods and passenger vehicles to be examined by traffic examiners. Of these 100,000 United Kingdom and foreign goods vehicles will be weighed. Over 1,100,000 HGV and PSV drivers' tachograph charts will be checked, and nearly 32,000 visits to operators made.
We are well set to meet or exceed these targets. Results for the first nine months of the year show that 91 per cent. of the year's target for vehicles examined, 93 per cent. for vehicle weighings, 99 per cent. for tachographs screening and 81 per cent. for operator visits had already been achieved.
Further increases in the main areas of traffic examiner enforcement activity are proposed in the national enforcement plan for 1989–90. A further 16 per cent. United Kingdom and foreign-registered HGV and PSYs will be examined and 15 per cent. more HGVs will be weighed; 16 per cent. more tachograph charts will be checked and 9 per cent. more operator visits will be made.