Clause 7 (Hansard, 27 April 1972)

§ The Under-Secretary of State for the Environment (Mr. Eldon Griffiths)
I beg to move Amendment No. 1, in page 9, line 1, leave out subsection (7) and insert: (7) Any reference in section 1 of this Act, or in subsection (1) of this section, to section 160 of the Road Traffic Act 1972 shall be construed as a reference to that section read together with section 5 of this Act.

§ Mr. Deputy Speaker (Sir Robert Grant-Ferris)
I suggest that it would be convenient for the House to discuss at the same time the following Amendments:

§ Mr. Eldon Griffiths
The House will recall that in Committee the right hon. Member for Sheffield, Park (Mr. Mulley) said that it might be wiser for the powers necessary for the Department's examiners to arise from the consolidated Measure, the Road Traffic Act, 1972, rather than from the Road Traffic Act, 1960, which, of course, has been subsumed from the point of view of these powers within the new consolidation Measure.
We had some debate on this matter, which turned very largely on whether there would be a gap between the implementation of the Bill and the coming into force of the consolidated Road Traffic Act, 1972. I undertook then to look into this matter and to see whether the length of gap enabling my Department's examiners to begin their task of checking foreign vehicles would be sufficiently long to justify our resting the powers on the old rather than on the new Act. I have come to the conclusion that the right hon. Gentleman was right, and therefore I am very glad to accept the spirit of what he proposed. I think he will agree that tilt Amendments meet his point completely.
Further, we hope to be able to commence the implementing of these powers, subject to this House and the other place agreeing to this, some time in early June; 1907 so there will be a matter of weeks before the July date for the consolidation Measure. Nevertheless, because we shall not be enforcing the whole rigour of the law immediately, and because we shall hope to operate in a fashion of escalating the inspection gradually, perhaps with warnings at the beginning, I think it right to accept the spirit of the right hon. Gentleman's suggestions. I hope that he will agree that the Amendments make it a tidier and a shorter Bill.

§ Mr. Frederick Mulley (Sheffield, Park)
I am grateful to the Under-Secretary. I am sure that both he and I would have preferred that the Bill could have become law at an earlier date, but it was not held up because of any action by the Opposition or through any lack of diligence on the part of the hon. Gentleman or his right hon. Friend.
We want the Department to have powers effectively to enforce the regulations and the requirements on foreign vehicles. It will be much tidier not to have this complicated overlapping arrangement and Schedule, particularly as the Bill when enacted will relate entirely to foreign vehicle operators and, therefore, will be a matter of concern only to the employers of those drivers, namely, for the most part European firms.
The Bill was not, as it first appeared, a very elegant advertisement for the legislative output of the House of Commons. It will be improved by the Amendments. I still think that it will be far from being the most elegant Measure I have seen. As I said in Committee, if the European Communities Bill, which occupies much of our time these days, had been put in the hands of the same draftsman it would have reached 100 Clauses, if not more.
This matter could have been more elegantly done, but we want the Department to have the powers. I hope that the Department will not be exercising any powers before it is legally entitled to have the powers. I should not want the Department to suffer from excess of zeal in that sense.
1908 I should also like the Under-Secretary to look at the enforcement resources at his disposal, because the only disturbing thing about the Bill is not in the Bill itself but in the preamble, which says that no additional enforcement officers will be involved. That could well nullify what both sides of the House want to secure, namely, the effective enforcement of our traffic regulations as to weight, and so on, with regard to foreign vehicles.
As the result of an Amendment that we made in Committee, it is possible for the Minister to choose the date when this Measure comes into operation. I am sure that he will choose a date that will give people in this country time to prepare and give firms which send over the foreign vehicles adequate time, so that unfortunate instances will not arise from this necessary legislation.