HC Deb 15 January 2001 vol 361 cc15-7W
Mr. Nicholls

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what representations he has received regarding the safety of school buses and coaches used by school parties. [144463]

Mr. Hill

Over the last two years ministerial colleagues and I have responded to two Parliamentary Questions, three letters from Members' constituents and my officials have responded on behalf of Ministers to four letters direct from the general public on this subject.

Mr. Nicholls

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how many school coaches are(a) over 10 years old, (b) over 20 years old and (c) older than 20 years. [144457]

Mr. Hill

There is no dedicated vehicle classification of a school coach as it is unlikely that coach operators would use their vehicles solely for the purpose of carrying school children. It is thus currently impossible to know the ages of the vehicles that are used for carrying school children, although it is generally recognised that vehicles used for school and college contracts are normally from the older section of the public service vehicles—PSV—fleet.

Mr. Nicholls

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how many buses which have been subject to spot-checks have been found by the police to have defects in each of the last five years; and what estimate he has made of the number which were school buses. [144487]

Mr. Hill

In addition to its routine roadside spot checks the Vehicle Inspectorate supports the police in nationwide checks. Of these, Operation Coachman, which has been running since 1997–98, involves specific targeted roadside checks on the condition of public service vehicles (minibuses, coaches and buses) used on school and college services. The table shows the results of Operation Coachman checks in each of the last three years and routine PSV roadside spot checks in each of the last five years. Data on routine PSV roadside spot checks carried out by the Inspectorate are not broken down to identify school buses.

Number of vehicles examined Prohibition rates (Percentage)
Operation Coachman
1999–2000 2,523 17.4
1998–99 2,171 18.1
1997–98 2,254 18.9
PSV spot checks1
1999–2000 23,516 13.4
1998–99 20,635 13.6
1997–98 28,045 12.7
1996–97 28,809 14.4
1995–96 23,987 15.0
1 Figures include emission only spot checks and foreign vehicles

A prohibition notice bans the use of a vehicle on a public road. There are two types of prohibition. An immediate prohibition is issued when defects are so serious that further driving of the vehicle would involve a risk of injury. A delayed prohibition is issued for less serious defects and can come into force at any time within 10 days of the inspection of the vehicle.

The prohibition rate at targeted roadside checks (such as Operation Coachman) is not indicative of the condition of the PSV fleet as a whole. The Inspectorate targets vehicles which are most likely to have defects. The higher prohibition rate for Operation Coachman is due to the fact that vehicles used for school and college contracts are normally drawn from the older section of the PSV fleet.

Mr. Nicholls

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what proportion of school buses have correctly-fitted seat belts. [144459]

Mr. Hill

Seat belts are required to be fitted on all school minibuses and coaches, but not on other types of bus. All new seat belt installations on buses, whether fitted on a voluntary or mandatory basis, must satisfy a Vehicle Inspectorate installation check. Subsequent to this initial check, seat belts and anchorages are inspected for condition as part of the normal annual test.

Although figures for school buses are not recorded separately, Vehicle inspectorate figures for buses in general show that a total of 2.5 per cent. of public service vehicles (covering most large buses and coaches) and 6 per cent. of Class V vehicles (covering most minibuses) failed the annual test due to seat belt or anchorage defects.

Mr. Nicholls

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what assessment his Department has made of the number of school buses that comply with Government safety standards. [144460]

Mr. Hill

All buses are required to be constructed and operated to meet specific legal requirements for safety. Compliance with these standards is checked through statutory annual testing and through in-service checks during the year.

In addition to these checks the condition of buses used to carry school children receives extra attention through a special annual national enforcement campaign called Operation Coachman. This campaign shows that the incidence of defects in buses used to carry school children is approximately 17 per cent. of vehicles and is similar to the rate detected in other targeted enforcement exercises. The reason for this figure is due to the fact the Department's Agency the Vehicle Inspectorate target their attention to vehicles which are suspected of having defects during special enforcement exercises.