Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, on what date his (a) Ministers and (b) officials were informed of the circumstances of the September 2017 M5 van crash in which five people died; and if he will make a statement.

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency staff attended the scene of the collision on 16^th September 2017, and recognised that tyre damage had occurred. In November 2017, the Department for Transport became aware of a Police report relating to the collision that cited tyre age as an issue and immediately commissioned an independent examination of the tyre. This reported in December 2017 and a further forensic examination was commissioned. This reported in October 2018 and Ministers were informed of the findings in early November 2018.

In parallel with these investigations specialist research was contracted in January 2018 to examine the wider issue of tyre ageing. This is expected to report in spring 2019.

Given the emerging evidence on tyre safety, the Government announced on 26 February that it will consult on options to ban older tyres from use on buses, coaches, heavy goods vehicles and minibuses to help keep road users safe.