Alan Reid
Main Page: Alan Reid (Liberal Democrat - Argyll and Bute)Department Debates - View all Alan Reid's debates with the Department for Transport
(9 years, 10 months ago)
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Mr McLoughlin
I am pleased that we are making progress that was not made between 1997 and 2010. We are making huge investments in trains and I am very pleased about that. The invitations to tender will be issued shortly and I hope to be able to say more about it then.
Mr Alan Reid (Argyll and Bute) (LD)
T5. The Department for Transport is consulting on removing the MOT exemption for HGVs based on Bute, Islay, Mull and Tiree, but the exemption is there for a very good reason: there are simply not enough HGVs on those islands to justify the cost of an authorised testing facility and the cost of taking an HGV to the mainland is very high. Will Ministers please stop this burden on island businesses?
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport (Claire Perry)
The hon. Gentleman knows that the consultation is being looked at on a Great Britain-wide basis and specific exemptions are indeed made for local service and delivery issues. I encourage him to continue eloquently to make the case for the existing exemption in his neck of the woods.