§ Mrs. DunwoodyTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many operators have been prosecuted in each of the last 12 months for operating overweight heavy goods vehicles over 38 tonnes. [13194]
§ Mr. BowisI have asked the chief executive of the Vehicle Inspectorate to write to the hon. Member.
Letter from Ron Oliver to Mrs. Gwyneth Dunwoody, dated 28 January 1997:
129WThe Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question concerning the number of operators prosecuted in each of the last 12 months for operating overweight heavy goods vehicles over 38 tonnes.Information on overweight heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) is not available in the format requested. However during the 1995/96 financial year there were 3,740 convictions for HGV overloading offences.
§ Mrs. DunwoodyTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) what is his Department's policy in respect of prosecution of overweight heavy goods vehicle operators facing gross train weight charges of less than 10 per cent. who have not been prosecuted before; and if he will make a statement; [13193]
(2) if he will make it his policy to pursue prosecutions of all heavy goods vehicles which are found to be overweight; [13192]
(3) if he will list the ministerial directives he has issued to the Vehicle Inspectorate concerning overweight heavy goods vehicles in each of the past 12 months; and if he will make a statement; [13190]
(4) if he will place in the Library a copy of the ministerial directive issued to the Vehicle Inspectorate to the effect that only heavy goods vehicles over 10 per cent. or 2 tonnes over the 38 tonnes weight would be prosecuted; and who was responsible for issuing the directive. [13191]
§ Mr. BowisThere have been no ministerial directives as such on this subject in the past 12 months. In order to promote consistency, Ministers agree guidelines for the prosecution of overloading offences by the Vehicle Inspectorate, but the final decision on whether to prosecute in individual cases rests with the inspectorate, in the light of all the circumstances. It is normal for the Vehicle Inspectorate to prohibit clearly overloaded vehicles whether or not it intends to take prosecution action.
§ Mrs. DunwoodyTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will place in the Library a copy of the letter from the Vehicle Inspectorate prosecution and legal services relating to the threshold below which prosecutions against overloaded lorries should not be pursued. [13189]
§ Mr. BowisThe Vehicle Inspectorate's prosecution and legal services unit has a standard letter which it uses to advise defendants and clerks to the courts in cases where selected offences are not proceeded with. Copies of these standard letters have been placed in the Library.
In November 1996, a small number of incorrect versions of these letters were sent out, copies of which have also been placed in the Library. As soon as the mistake was detected, the erroneous versions were stopped.