§ Mr. BrakeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how many calls the Vehicle Inspectorate dirty diesel telephone hotline received between(a) November 1996 and January 1997 and (b) November 1997 and January 1998 [29774]
§ Ms Glenda JacksonI have asked the Chief Executive of the vehicle Inspectorate,Mr. Ron Oliver, to write to the hon. Member.
Letter from Ron Oliver to Mr. Tom Brake, dated 17 February 1998:
The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question about the number of calls received by the Vehicle Inspectorate's smoky vehicle telephone hotline between (a) November 1996 and January 1997 and (b) November 1997 and January 1998.Details for the two periods are as follows:November 1996—January 1997 1,954 callsNovember 1997—January 1998 2,294 calls.There was a noticeable increase in the number of calls received in January 1998 and this has been attributed to the publicity campaign promoting the service launched by the Royal Automobile Club (RAC) on 23 December 1997.