§ Mr. CryerTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many officers are authorised to check lorry weights in each local authority area; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. KeyAt 31 May 1993, 197 vehicle inspectorate (VI) traffic examiners were authorised by the chief executive to check lorry weights. Traffic examiners are integrated into VI"s district structure and it is not possible to give a breakdown by local authority area.
Weighing is also carried out independently by local authority trading standards officers and the police.
584W
§ Mr. CryerTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many prosecutions were made against transport companies for overweight loads in each region for 1992 and 1993 to the most recent practicable date.
§ Mr. KeyThe numbers of successful prosecutions obtained by the vehicle inspectorate against goods vehicle operators for overloading offences for the year 1992 and from 1 January to 30 June 1993 are given in the table. During 1992 the inspectorate implemented a change in policy; it now only normally prosecutes where the vehicle is overloaded by 10 per cent. or 1 tonne.
Traffic area regions Number of successful prosecutions 1992 1 21993 Eastern 378 143 North Eastern 1,289 411 North Western 774 309 Scotland 523 138 South Eastern 546 224 South Wales 155 54 West Midlands 417 218 Western 1,008 254 Total 5,090 1,751 11 January to 30 June. 2 These are provisional figures. Some data from this period has not yet been processed.