§ Ms. RuddockTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many prosecutions have been brought against bus companies for(a) drivers' hours violations and (b) vehicle standards violations in each year since 1985.
§ Mr. FreemanSince 1985 the Department of Transport enforcement staff have brought the following prosecutions against bus companies for drivers' hours violation:
Number 1985–86 786 1986–87 369 1987–88 492 1988–89 814 1989–90 116 Prosecutions for drivers' hours and roadworthiness offences are also undertaken by the police, but the statistics are not broken down between individual categories of vehicles.
The vehicle inspectorate undertakes roadside checks of passenger carrying vehicles and prohibitions are placed on vehicles which are found to be unroadworthy, banning the further use of the vehicles on a public road until faults have been rectified. The number of checks and rate of prohibitions since 1985 are:
Vehicles checked Prohibition rate per cent. 1985–86 12,575 10.7 1986–87 17,767 10.3 1987–88 19,649 11.8 1988–89 17,747 11.6 1989–90 19,495 11.9