HC Deb 30 July 1956 vol 557 cc1055-6

Lords Amendment: In page 11, line 34, at end insert: C.—(1) Paragraph (b) of subsection (1) of section six of the Act of 1934 (which enables an applicant who held a licence before nineteen hundred and thirty-four to obtain a licence without passing a driving test) shall cease to have effect. (2) In paragraph (a) of the said subsection (1) (which makes it a condition of the granting of a licence that the applicant satisfies the licensing authority that he has at some time passed the prescribed test) for the words 'at some time' there shall be substituted the words 'during the period of ten years ending on the date of coming into force of the licence applied for'. (3) The said subsection (1) shall not apply to an applicant for a licence authorising the driving of vehicles of any class or description who satisfies the licensing authority that within the period of ten years ending on the date of coming into force of the licence applied for he has held a licence authorising the driving of vehicles of that class or description, not being a licence granted by virtue of subsection (7) of section six of the Act of 1934 (which empowers the Minister to make regulations dispensing with the need to pass a test where the applicant is not resident in Great Britain.) (4) In this section the expression 'licence' means a licence under Part I of the Act of 1930 other than a provisional licence.

10.15 p.m.

Mr. Watkinson

I beg to move, That this House doth agree with the Lords in the said Amendment.

This arises out of a Clause moved by the hon. Member for Hayes and Harlington (Mr. Skeffington.) Although he is not able to be present, as I understand, I have satisfied myself that he agrees that this new Clause fully meets the point he put forward, and indeed goes a little further.

I can state its purpose very quickly. It is to amend the existing provisions of the Road Traffic Act, 1934, in order to provide that persons who have not driven for a period of ten years must pass a driving test before they get a licence. The persons primarily affected will, of course, be those who previously held substantive driving licences and have ceased to hold such licences for ten years or longer. It is, I think, a useful addition to the Bill, and a very good addition to our road safety measures. I hope that the House will accept it in that spirit.

Question put and agreed to.—[Special Entry.]