§ Mr. Gareth WardellTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what information his Department now holds on the failure rates of public service vehicles at the annual roadworthiness test; and if he will specify the level of disaggregation available to him.
§ Mr. KeyI have asked the Vehicle Inspectorate chief executive to write to the hon. Member with this detailed information.
Letter from Ron Oliver to Mr. Gareth Wardell, dated 4 March 1994:
The Secretary of State for Transport has asked me to reply to your question about the information his Department holds on failure rates for public service vehicles (PSVs) at annual roadworthiness tests, and the amount of detail available to him.The Vehicle Inspectorate (VI) is responsible for the annual testing of HGVs and PSVs. VI maintains a database detailing the test record of each vehicle it tests. At its lowest level the database can provide basic information about whether a particular vehicle has passed or failed its annual roadworthiness test and the reason for failure. This detailed information is not made available to the general public for data protection reasons.The database also provides regular management information on first annual tests and retests at a regional, national and test station level. It can be programmed to aggregate the results in different ways at additional cost. It no longer records operator types and does not yet produce information automatically about particular PSV operators. This is because vehicle information is not cross referenced with operator details. VI is working on solutions aimed at creating a full vehicle and operator database in the medium term.In view of your interest I have enclosed a copy of VI's annual report for 1992–93. This gives details of national PSV test failure rates for the financial years 1988–89 to 1992–93, and provides a breakdown of the reasons for failure over the same period.