§ Mr. CoxTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how many heavy goods vehicle drivers were stopped for a vehicle inspection during 1997. [30698]
§ Ms Glenda JacksonI have asked the Chief Executive of the Vehicle Inspectorate Agency, Mr. Ron Oliver, to write to my hon. Friend.
Letter from Ron Oliver to Mr. Tom Cox, dated 23 February 1998:
The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question on how many heavy goods vehicle drivers were stopped for a vehicle inspection during 1997.The Vehicle Inspectorate (VI) does not gather any figures on the actual number of drivers it stops for inspection, only the number of vehicles, some of which have more than one driver.VI maintains its records by financial year. During the period April to September 1997, the Inspectorate conducted 98,025 inspections of heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) for traffic enforcement (which includes, among other items, a specific check upon the driver for licensing and tachograph rules compliance). Roadworthiness enforcement checks (looking at the mechanical state of the vehicle) were carried out on 54,714 HGVs but there will be overlap in that some vehicles would have been subjected to both traffic and roadworthiness inspections.For the financial year April 1996 to March 1997, traffic enforcement checks were carried out on 214,924 heavy goods vehicles and roadworthiness inspections were carried out on 107,601 HGVs; it is not possible to disaggregate the figures for the 3 months January to March 1997.