HC Deb 23 March 1994 vol 240 cc253-8W
Mr. Donohoe

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) in which vehicle inspectorate testing stations the operating costs of the station exceeds the amount of revenue generated through test fees;

(2) if he will list his Department's vehicle inspectorate testing stations; in which parliamentary constituency each testing station lies; how many people are employed at each testing station; how many vehicles were tested at each testing station during the last year; and how much revenue was collected at each testing station in testing fees.

1Testing volumes by stations 1992–93
PSV HGV Trailers
District, sub-stations and constituency Class VII Annual Prohibitions Annual Prohibitions Annual Prohibitions Total Revenue £ 2Cost £ 3Staff
ABERDEEN
Gordon 144 827 5 5,643 45 2,885 30 9,579 256,193 253,557 12.9
AMMANFORD
Llanelli 116 1,738 63 5,614 198 2,245 51 10,025 338,236 331,857 12.5
Haverfordwest
Pembroke 406 1,530 31 319 2 2,288 3.2
BEVERLEY
Beverley 202 852 20 6,124 92 4,443 25 11,758 306,375 290,067 14.2
BICESTER
Banbury 820 806 24 6,720 86 2,147 22 10,625 274,773 233,454 13.2
BIRMINGHAM
Birmingham, Yardley 744 2,876 27 14,081 158 4,413 22 22,321 630,709 607,788 30.6
BISHOPBRIGGS
Strathkelvin and Bearsden 2,249 3,569 82 12,051 357 6,775 47 25,110 648,641 659,887 32.3
Lochgilphead
Argyll and Bute 166 458 3 112 0 739
BREDBURY
Hazel Grove 366 2,454 32 16,040 425 8,447 74 27,838 748,154 601,985 33.6
BRISTOL
Bristol, South 794 2,310 29 10,827 303 4,950 39 19,252 797,659 707,111 27.2
Calne
Wiltshire, North 340 7,686 162 3,256 56 11,500 9.2
CANTERBURY
Canterbury 291 605 20 4,611 88 2,088 37 7,740 216,107 285,181 14.5
CARLISLE
Carlisle 296 853 29 4,704 110 2,921 42 8,955 356,492 329,339 8.6
Newton Stewart
Galloway and Upper Nithsdale 70 418 7 131 1 627
Dumfries
Dumfries 451 2,056 39 1,200 10 3,756 4.0
Workington
Workington 204 1,032 15 468 8 1,727 1.0
CHELMSFORD
Chelmsford 739 1,389 22 9,508 184 2,693 54 14,589 403,423 344,189 17.2
DARLINGTON
Darlington 537 2,011 35 12,894 269 8,882 87 24,715 628,068 506,858 24.6

Mr. Key

I have asked the vehicle inspectorate chief executive to write to the hon. Member with this detailed information.

Letter from Ron Oliver to Mr. Brian Donohoe, dated 4 February 1994:

The Secretary of State for Transport has asked me to reply to your Questions about the Vehicle Inspectorate's test station network, income from testing, and costs.

The Inspectorate's accounts and management information for 1992–93 were sufficiently detailed to provide information on test volumes and income from testing down to district level. This is shown on the attached table.

Unfortunately information relating to the operating costs and staff at each station cannot be provided in a form that will help answer your questions. In 1992–93 VI had a district based organisation and recorded information on costs accordingly. This information was aggregated at agency level and then divided between the individual schemes, including HGV and PSV testing, for accounting purposes. This means that detailed information on costs for individual test stations is unavailable. More importantly the costs of enforcement staff based in the districts would be included in the figures and could not be separated out. For these reasons a simple list of district costs, against income generated from testing activities, would give a false impression.

VI reorganised its operational structure on 1 November 1993. The Inspectorate now has two operational divisions, Vehicle Testing and Road Transport Enforcement. The costs of each division are separately accounted for from 1 November 1993. Although VI may have interim figures for each station later this year, the new financial structure will not be fully reflected until the Inspectorate's 1994–95 accounts are published.

I am sorry that I cannot be more helpful at present, but if you have any additional questions please write to me.

1Testing volumes by stations 1992–93
PSV HGV Trailers
District, sub-stations and constituency Class VII Annual Prohibitions Annual Prohibitions Annual Prohibitions Total Revenue £ 2Cost £ 3Staff
DERBY
Derbyshire, South 538 1,164 18 6,810 111 4,147 43 12,831 336,378 320,251 16.9
EDMONTON
Edmonton 2,234 2,327 33 13,599 124 3,141 23 21,481 577,375 653,890 28.7
EXETER
Exeter 235 1,802 81 5,178 101 1,475 19 8,891 551,195 566,717 14.1
Taunton
Taunton 77 5,964 119 2,356 34 8,550 9.0
South Molton
North Devon 268 2,027 47 565 9 2,916 4.0
GILLINGHAM
Gillingham 767 905 12 8,410 147 3,931 38 14,210 357,870 338,117 18.8
GLOUCESTER
Gloucester 277 744 12 7,324 134 2,800 27 11,318 301,683 237,949 11.6
GRANTHAM
Grantham 416 603 16 8,309 135 5,214 78 14,771 366,527 295,717 16.6
GRIMSBY
Great Grimsby 659 673 7 5,362 54 5,207 23 11,985 287,299 241,782 12.7
GUILDFORD
Guildford 1,235 912 42 11,604 250 2,173 28 16,244 431,307 348,303 17.6
HASTINGS
Hastings and Rye 666 771 17 4,338 65 892 13 6,762 188,228 210,027 9.6
HEYWOOD
Heywood and Middleton 323 2,061 57 13,720 416 5,887 53 22,517 882,085 732,747 29.6
Steeton
Keighley 484 457 9 6,936 234 2,379 42 10,541 8.5
INVERNESS
Inverness, Nairn and Lochaber 357 1,062 17 2,135 45 692 8 4,316 208,026 305,785 11.2
Forth William
Inverness, Nairn and Lochaber 57 259 1 99 2 418
Keith
Moray 3 992 5 676 1 1,677 1.0
Kirkwall
Orkney and Shetland 78 223 0 50 0 351
Lairg
Caithness and Sutherland 26 69 0 1 0 96
Lerwick
Orkney and Shetland 102 319 2 144 0 567
Portree
Ross, Cromarty and Skye 46 139 0 16 1 202
Stornoway
Western Isles 17 251 1 67 0 336 0.1
Wick
Caithness and Sutherland 78 292 2 137 0 509 1.1
IPSWICH
Ipswich 413 741 7 7,511 122 7,318 83 16,195 401,611 338,819 17.7
KIDDERMINSTER
Wyre Forest 454 1,105 41 9,877 173 3,785 31 15,466 536,759 460,058 18.0
Hereford
Hereford 275 3,166 44 1,639 16 5,140 5.1
KILMARNOCK
Kilmarnock and Loudoun 297 1,119 74 5,959 203 2,686 36 10,374 275,025 286,708 14.0
KIRKHAM
Fylde 288 2,236 47 10,435 228 5,962 71 19,267 698,169 633,290 24.8
Barrow
Barrow and Furness 99 644 16 444 10 1,213 1.0
Milnthorpe
Westmorland and Lonsdale 214 3,899 105 1,852 37 6,107 8.3
LANCING
Shoreham 438 690 10 5,434 109 1,118 6 7,805 214,281 259,846 13.7
LEEDS
Normanton 653 2,149 22 18,384 353 10,215 102 31,878 840,436 676,916 35.7
LEICESTER
Rutland and Melton 816 1,307 34 10,617 168 4,136 30 17,108 460,438 385,357 20.9
LEIGHTON BUZZARD
South West Bedfordshire 636 1,019 23 7,540 116 3,453 28 12,815 323,282 270,588 15.6
LIVERPOOL
Knowsley, North 1,015 3,163 110 16,523 654 10,778 153 32,396 874,953 686,442 34.5
LIVINGSTONE
Livingston 237 2,558 70 10,022 208 5,396 53 18,544 598,563 578,943 24.8
Berwick-upon-Tweed
Berwick-upon-Tweed 25 739 7 282 4 1,057
Charlesfield
Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale 155 831 14 276 0 1,276 3.0
East Fortune
East Lothian 51 498 9 126 2 686 1.0
1Testing volumes by stations 1992–93
PSV HGV Trailers
District, sub-stations and constituency Class VII Annual Prohibitions Annual Prohibitions Annual Prohibitions Total Revenue £ 2Cost £ 3Staff
LLANTRISANT
Pontypridd 167 1,897 79 7,778 239 4,144 53 14,357 485,827 492,118 21.0
Llayrystyd
Ceredigion and Pembroke, North 154 1,342 9 220 4 1,729 1.0
Llandrindod Wells
Brecon and Radnor 241 1,229 18 231 2 1,721 2.0
MITCHAM
Croydon, North West 1,428 3,376 43 12,635 314 1,706 28 19,530 579,402 607,548 28.0
NEWBURY
Newbury 649 966 17 7,232 103 2,796 22 11,785 316,984 266,810 13.1
NEWCASTLE
Wallsend 637 2,752 39 10,548 240 4,274 61 18,551 504,777 449,119 22.1
NORTHAMPTON
Daventry 833 761 23 8,184 140 5,961 31 15,933 394,916 324,766 17.9
NORWICH
Norwich, North 794 840 16 7,961 74 3,316 42 13,043 339,038 361,648 18.6
NOTTINGHAM
Broxtowe 1,208 1,470 14 8,637 99 4,008 28 15,464 410,506 483,834 26.1
PERTH
Perth and Kinross 558 1,400 31 3,910 83 1,759 29 7,770 315,063 298,023 8.6
Kirkcaldy
Kirkcaldy 1,025 2,377 64 690 10 4,166 3.5
Montrose
Angus East 118 813 17 327 1 1,276 1.0
PETERBOROUGH
Peterborough 1,065 820 20 6,453 129 4,759 47 13,293 555,770 483,491 16.4
Crimplesham
Norfolk, North West 637 5,897 78 3,811 48 10,471 11.4
PLYMOUTH
Plymouth, Devonport 336 1,441 33 3,067 60 603 10 5,550 287,282 372,735 10.0
St. Austell
Truro 266 1,647 12 361 2 2,288 3.0
Redruth
Falmouth and Camborne 881 2,090 32 308 8 3,319 4.0
PONTYPOOL
Torfaen 800 1,253 44 5,189 157 3,375 27 10,845 276,252 250,957 11.5
POOLE
Poole 197 1,303 15 4,628 63 1,016 21 7,243 384,110 363,457 12.1
Salisbury
Salisbury 190 4,453 56 1,975 31 6,705 5.5
PURFLEET
Thurrock 537 1,557 28 12,736 337 10,062 105 25,362 686,150 644,218 30.3
ROYSTON
Hertfordshire, North 1,237 1,038 35 12,307 259 4,389 48 19,313 545,473 338,564 17.2
SHEFFIELD
Sheffield, Attercliffe 872 1,675 3 10,591 22 5,874 3 19,040 885,579 706,009 20.0
Doncaster
Doncaster, North 697 1,283 44 8,197 111 5,212 35 15,579 15.4
SOUTHAMPTON
Fareham 377 1,311 37 7,184 209 3,703 56 12,877 377,712 464,469 19.1
Cowes
Isle of Wight 215 937 19 178 1 1,350 2.0
STOKE ON TRENT
Stafford 203 2,170 31 12,280 210 7,020 72 21,986 885,961 739,660 27.5
Shrewsbury
Shrewsbury and Atcham 475 6,574 110 3,379 42 10,580 10.0
WALTON
Elmet 475 1,120 14 6,298 125 2,852 28 10,912 346,923 426,136 16.0
Scarborough
Scarborough 97 1,509 8 570 5 2,189 4.0
WOLVERHAMPTON
Staffordshire, South 137 1,662 29 15,208 146 5,057 32 22,271 637,007 543,701 28.6
WREXHAM
Wrexham 237 2,268 68 7,653 130 3,294 19 13,669 588,199 619,946 19.6
Caernarfon
Caernarfon 241 2,311 43 281 5 2,881 5.0
Bromborough
Wirral, South 429 3,353 66 2,484 29 6,361 7.5
YEADING
Hayes and Harlington 2,127 3,471 97 15,749 416 3,934 55 25,849 720,994 763,065 35.0
44,484 85,692 1,907 567,293 11,292 263,799 2,751 977,218 25,840,245 23,979,799 1,201.9
1 Test includes Annual Statutory tests; retests and some prohibitions issued at the roadside.
2 Includes the costs of roadworthiness enforcement staff based at VI Test Stations.
3 Whole-time equivalents.