HC Deb 17 March 1959 vol 602 cc175-6
3. Mr. Ronald Bell

asked the Attorney-General when the Lord Chancellor's Law Reform Committee is expected to begin consideration of the law of civil liability in respect of highways, particularly in regard to liability for non-feasance.

The Attorney-General

The Law Reform Committee has not been invited to consider this matter. The question of liability for non-feasance is at present the subject of discussions between my right hon. Friend the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation and the highway authorities' associations.

Mr. Bell

Can my right hon. and learned Friend offer any hope that, as a result of these conversations, there will be a fairly early amendment of the law? If not, will he ask his noble Friend the Lord Chancellor to submit this matter of non-feasance to the Law Reform Committee, as this is a subject which has, by common consent, been awaiting reform for a very long time?

The Attorney-General

The right moment to consider all that is when the Highways Bill, now before Parliament—it is almost entirely a consolidation Measure—has been enacted.