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Dept of the Environment Transport and the Regions

Answer

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 checks{1} 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.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

361 c15-6W; 144487

Session

2000-01

Subjects

Bus services Buses Transport Safety Schools Testing

Contains statistics

Yes

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk