Government review into Volumetric Concrete Mobile plants

That this House celebrates the Volumetric Concrete Mobile (VCM) sector employing 15,000 skilled workers in 155 constituencies, contributing £380m to the economy and £100m to the Exchequer; notes that from 1975 VCMs have run at weights above 32 tonnes to produce concrete with zero waste, servicing multiple customers, pouring different strengths of concrete on one circuit, saving an estimated 14 million concrete lorry miles pa on UK roads, eliminating 598,000 lorry journeys and 120,000 tonnes of CO2 creating a 20% increase in CO2, nitrogen oxide and particulates, generating carbon costs of £7 million pa and requiring 200 more HGV drivers; further notes that VCMs avoid wasting c.4.8 billion litres of water pa required by old-fashioned drum mixers to flush out concrete waste, and expresses concern that National Highways failed to carry out an environmental impact assessment on cutting VCM weights to 32 tonnes, and made no account in its calculations of the fact that most VCMs weight under 32 tonnes after the first delivery of the day while almost all drum mixers weigh 32 tonnes for their entire journey to every site and failed to question the c40 roll-overs of drum mixers as against one for VCMs; highlights that 5-axle 44 tonne VCMs manufactured and exported from the UK are road legal in many countries including Canada, Denmark and Brazil; and urges Ministers to review this decision and make the current 38.4 and 44 tonne weight limits permanent before the next election, honouring a pledge given before the 2024 election.