Permits racket at ports row
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ARE FOREIGN hauliers re-using permits time after time to bring loads into Britain? And are they getting away with it because of a row between the Customs and Department of Environment traffic inspectors?
Mr Marcus Fox MP believes that the answer to both questions is yes, and he is out to prove it.
He told a business luncheon last week at the Road Haulage Association's Tipping Show in Harrogate that it was "time this racket was exposed."
Hauliers from abroad were coming to Britain and their permits were not being stamped to show that they had been used, said Mr Fox, vicechairman of the Tory Party.
"We're daft," he told the RHA members. "No wonder our EEC partners aren't particularly worried about pushing up the permit levels. They can already come here as often as they like."
He told CM that he is at present gathering evidence of this permit abuse and would pass it on to the DoE as soon as possible.
"Lorries are coming into this country and because of a 'who does what dispute' between the Customs and the DoE men their permits are not being stamped.
"So quite naturally they are using the same permit over and over again. No wonder there is no pressure in France or Germany to get the permit quota raised."
Mr John Wells, a past chairman of the RHA, said that this situation was the root cause of all Britain's permit problems.
"If someone had accepted the responsibility then we would not be in the mess we are at the moment."
A spokesman for the DoE said: "If Marcus Fox has any evidence on this kind of thing then he ought to let us have it. We don't know about any such situation or about any dispute which may be causing this to happen."
About 80,000 permits are issued for trucks to come into this country in a year.