Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 17 October 2018 to Question 177313 on Driving under Influence, what assessment he has made of (a) the effectiveness of the rigorous enforcement and serious penalties for drink drivers; and (b) trends in the level of breath test performed between 2011 and 2015.

The Department has not made a formal assessment of the effectiveness of the rigorous enforcement and serious penalties for drink drivers; nor of the trends in the level of breath tests performed between 2011 and 2015. However, the Department has already introduced further measures to tackle drink drivers. Since 2015, repeat drink drivers must medically prove they are not alcohol dependent before getting their licence back, and the right to blood testing was removed for drivers who narrowly fail breathalyser tests. A £350,000 competition announced in June to develop a new mobile evidential breathalyser for the police has also been completed; winning entries are currently being assessed.