Clause 118 (Hansard, 29 May 1968)

§ Mr. Marsh
I beg to move Amendment No. 436, in page 152, line 8, leave out subsection (9) and insert: (9) In section 12 of the principal Act (which enables a highway authority to impose a temporary prohibition or restriction on the use of a road by vehicles or by vehicles of any class in certain circumstances)—

(a) in subsections (1) and (2), after the words ' vehicles of any class' there shall in each case be inserted the words ' or by foot passengers';

(b) in subsection (1) (which enables such a prohibition or restriction to be imposed by reason of any works being executed or proposed to be executed on or near the road) after the words 'near the road' there shall be inserted the words ' or by reason of the likelihood of danger to the public or of serious damage to the highway';

(c) in subsection (3), after the words, 'section 1(3)', and in subsection (4) after the words ' section 1 (3)(a), (b) or

(c)', there shall in each case be inserted the words ' or (3A) ';

(d) at the end of subsection (3) there shall be added the words ' but no such order or notice shall be made with respect to any road which would have the effect of preventing at any time access for foot passengers to any premises situated on or adjacent to the road, or any other premises accessible for foot passengers from, and only from, the road';

(e) in subsection (9) (which imposes penal ties on a person who uses or permits the use of a vehicle in contravention of such a prohibition or restriction) after the word 'person' there shall be inserted the words 'who contravenes or';

and in Schedule 3 to the principal Act (which relates to the notification of the exercise or proposed exercise of the powers conferred by the said section 12 and otherwise in relation thereto), in paragraph 2, after the word 'vehicles' there shall be inserted the words 'or, as the case may be, foot passengers'.

This Amendment is further evidence of the extent to which the Government have listened to the arguments put in Committee and have responded to them. One of the things which saddens one is the 1992 extent to which the Opposition have treated this generosity with such churlishness. This is only one of a number of Amendments we have put down to meet points raised in Committee.
Subsection (9) of the Clause amends Section 12(1) of the Road Traffic Regulation Act, 1967, which provides for the temporary restriction of traffic on roads in connection with road works where damage or danger is likely. The proposed new subsection (9) incorporates the existing subsection (9) of the Clause and in addition seeks to make it possible to control passengers as well as vehicles under Section 12 of the 1967 Act. This is in response to Opposition Amendments moved in Committee.
The then Joint Parliamentary Secretary said that the Opposition Amendments would be accepted in principle and would be further considered. We have done so and the result is this Amendment. It is designed to enable a local authority to control pedestrians under Section 12 of the 1967 Act. This is provided for in paragraph (a). Paragraph (d) provides that no Order or notice can be made with the effect of preventing at any time access by pedestrians to any premises. This matter had caused a great deal of consternation in Committee. Paragraph (e) provides for the penalty clause to apply to pedestrians contravening one of those Orders.
The remainder of Clause 118 remains as at present. This power will be chiefly used when it is dangerous to continue to allow foot passengers to use a road when works are being carried out—for example, repairs to a bridge. At present, a notice issued by a local authority purporting to control pedestrians has no legal backing and cannot be enforced. This new provision should remedy that defect.

§ Mr. Michael Heseltine
I thank the right hon. Gentleman for his generous introduction. It is gratifying, as the Bill turns into the home stretch after all these months, to see that one has had some small part in getting so many words built into the legislation. I endorse what the right hon. Gentleman has said—that this redrafting of the Clause is the direct result of pressure from the Opposition in the Standing Committee.

§ Mr. Marsh
I am grateful to the hon. Member for giving way. In view of his enthusiasm for this sort of action, would he go on to explain why he made such a fuss about the number of Amendments on the Notice Paper, since most of them were on the same basis?

§ Mr. Heseltine
The right hon. Gentleman has made a number of concessions during the later parts of our debates. The depressing thing is that if he had been in the Standing Committee for earlier parts he would have had an opportunity to give way on a number of other matters as well. When he comes to consider further Amendments that may come on later stages of the Bill we hope that his common sense may prevail over the doctrinaire and ill-prepared legislation which came before he took over responsibility for the Department.
But it would be churlish of me not to accept this Amendment gracefully, and hon. Members opposite know that I am not churlish. I therefore have great pleasure in thanking the right hon. Gentleman.