HC Deb 26 October 1993 vol 230 cc541-2W
Mr. Fatchett

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) if he will make a statement on the differences in safety regimes between operator licence exempted vehicles and licensed vehicles;

(2) if he will list by type the numbers of vehicles which are exempt from holding a goods vehicle operator's licence;

(3) what studies have been carried out to determine whether operator licence exempted vehicles are more or less likely to be involved in accidents than licensed vehicles;

(4) how many vehicles are exempted from goods operator licensing regulations.

Mr. Key

Applicants for operator licences must satisfy financial requirements and requirements of good repute and professional competence or fitness to operate. They must show that they have adequate maintenance arrangements, and operators of goods vehicles must also satisfy the licensing authorities that they have an environmentally acceptable operating centre.

Whether or not they are covered by operator licensing, all goods vehicles, with some minor exceptions, are subject to the same roadworthiness requirements, including annual roadworthiness tests and possible roadside enforcement checks. All goods vehicles, apart from certain specialised types, are also subject to drivers' hours and tachograph regulations, although drivers of vehicles which do not require an operator's licence are exempt from the need to keep records under domestic drivers' hours legislation.

The classes of vehicles exempt from goods operator licensing comprise vehicles not exceeding 3.5 tonnes; Crown vehicles; and those listed in schedule 5 of the Goods Vehicles (Operators' Licences, Qualifications and Fees) Regulation 1984, as amended. The main categories are:

  • tractors when hauling agricultureal and certain other equipment;
  • dual-purpose vehicles and their trailers;
  • vehicles used between private premises and not exceeding 6 miles by road in any one week;
  • funeral vehicles;
  • police and fire brigade vehicles and ambulances;
  • vehicles used for fire-fighting or rescue operations at mines;
  • vehicles used for test or trial;
  • vehicles used under a trade licence;
  • United Kingdom and visiting forces vehicles;
  • trailers used for road maintenance or construction;
  • road rollers;
  • Coastguard and Royal National Lifeboat Institution vehicles;
  • vehicles with certain fixed equipment;
  • local authority weights and measures vehicles;
  • local authority civil defence vehicles;
  • steam-propelled vehicles;
  • tower wagons or trailers;
  • vehicles used within aerodromes;
  • electrically propelled vehicles;
  • showman's goods vehicles and trailers;
  • certain vehicles first used before 1 January 1977 with a gross weight exceeding 3.5 tonnes but not 31/2 tons;
  • vehicles used by a highway authority for weighbridge purposes;
  • water, gas, electricity and telephone emergency vehicles; recovery vehicles;
  • vehicles used for snow clearing or the distribution of grit, salt or other materials on icy roads;
  • vehicles going to or from a test station.

We have no information on the number of vehicles exempted from operator licensing, nor am I aware of any studies on whether operator licence exempt vehicles are more or less likely to be involved in accidents than those within the operator licensing system.