§ Mr. CallaghanTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) how many buses in the Greater Manchester area failed safety tests in(a) 1992, (b) 1993 and (c) 1994; [10318]
(2) how many heavy goods vehicles were tested in the north-west region on emission standards; and how many of them were (a) prohibited and (b) prosecuted. [10319]
§ Mr. NorrisI have asked the chief executive of the Vehicle Inspectorate to write to the hon. Member.
Letter from Ron Oliver to Mr. Jim Callaghan, dated 22 January 1996:
The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your questions on the number of heavy goods vehicles tested on emission standards in the North West and how many were prohibited and prosecuted. Your other question asked how many buses in the Greater Manchester area failed safety tests in 1992, 1993, and 1994.Heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) are tested for emissions standard as part of their annual test. Details of the number tested in the North West Region and the percentage of those which failed on smoke emission are shown in Table 1. Vehicles which fail this part of the test would not be prohibited but would be required to rectify the fault before a test certificate was awarded.Emissions are also checked as part of the HGV spot checks for roadworthiness that are carried out throughout the year. The Vehicle Inspectorate (VI) has no single enforcement area comprising the North West "region", it is covered by 3 VI Enforcement Areas. Smoke emission checks were carried out on a total of 2,968 HGVs of which 73 (2.46%) were issued with prohibitions. Prohibitions can only be removed when the vehicle has been rectified and inspected again by VI to show that it is fit for service. Prosecution for emission offences is reserved for very serious neglect and for serial offenders. Details of the number of prosecutions for emissions as a result of 33W routine spot checks can only be provided at disproportionate cost. There were no prosecutions following last year's "blitz" checks on HGVs in the North West.Details of the number of buses which failed their annual test in the Greater Manchester area are shown below.
1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 Total number tested 2,861 3,868 4,357 Total number failed 825 756 863
Number of HGVs tested and percentage failed on smoke emission: North West 1994–95 VI HGV testing station Tested Percentage failed Carlisle 3,733 1.7 Milnthorpe 3,065 2.4 Barrow 529 1.7 Kirkham 8,325 1.8 North Manchester 10,604 1.6 South Manchester 12,317 2.0 Simonswood 12,828 0.52 Bromborough 2,651 0.9 Wrexham 5,416 1.9