HC Deb 05 February 1996 vol 271 cc5-6W
Mrs. Dunwoody

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what qualifications are required by personnel who carry out the maintenance of brakes and other safety critical parts on heavy goods vehicles and public service vehicles. [13237]

Mr. Norris

Responsibility lies with goods and passenger vehicle operators to ensure their vehicles are roadworthy; there is no legal obligation for maintenance personnel to hold a relevant qualification. However, when applying for a licence, operators make a formal declaration to the traffic commissioner that they willundertake to make proper arrangements so that motor vehicles and trailers, including hired vehicles and trailers, are kept fit and serviceable." Advice on how this should be achieved is set out in the "Guide for Maintaining Roadworthiness" which incorporates the procedures necessary to satisfy the requirements for traffic commissioners.

Mrs. Dunwoody

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what proposals his Department has to investigate incidents of wheel loss involving heavy goods vehicles; and what funding his Department has made available to investigate this problem. [13240]

Mr. Norris

The Department of Trade and Industry contributed £35,000 to a study of wheel loss which resulted in a 1989 report by the Institute of Road Transport Engineers and led to a British Standard—BS AU 50: Part 2: Section 3:1994—and a British standard code practice—BSAU50 Part 2: Section 7a 1995. The code of practice is referred to in the Department's "Guide to Maintaining Roadworthiness" for operators of heavy vehicles.

An information leaflet, outlining various aspects of the problem and suggesting ways of overcoming some of the difficulties, was produced by the Department at the time of the IRTE report. We plan to update the leaflet to draw attention to the code of practice.

Mrs. Dunwoody

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what controls his Department has put in place to prevent the sale of inferior brake pads and linings and other safety critical replacement parts for heavy goods vehicles and public service vehicles. [13236]

Mr. Norris

None. However, discussions in Europe have resulted in a proposal for the control of replacement brake pads and linings which is expected to be incorporated in the braking directive 71/320/EEC. We shall consider taking advantage of these initiatives to introduce into the UK controls for replacement pads and linings. Decisions on the control of other replacement parts will continue to be taken on a case by case basis.