HC Deb 19 July 1972 vol 841 cc816-22

AMENDMENTS OF ENACTMENTS REALTING TO ROAD TRAFFIC AND ABANDONED VEHICLES

Amendment made: No. 697, in page 276, leave out lines 14 to 34 and insert—

THE ROAD TRAFFIC AND ACT 1972

  1. 1. In section 31(7), for the words 'county borough or county district' there shall be substituted the word 'county'.
  2. 2. In section 33(4), for the words 'of a borough or of an urban district' there shall be substituted the words 'or of a London borough'.
  3. 3. In section 35(5), in paragraph (a) for the words from 'county borough' in the first place where they occur to the end of the paragraph there shall be substituted the words 'London borough', and the words 'and in this subsection "county borough" includes a London borough' shall be omitted.
  4. 4. In section 38, subsection (3) shall be omitted and in subsection (5)(a) for the words 'a borough or an urban district' there shall be substituted the words 'or London borough'.
  5. 5. In section 43(3) for the words 'of a borough, of an urban district' there shall be substituted the words 'of a district or London borough'.
  6. 6. In section 196(1) in the definition of 'highway authority', the words 'the council of a county borough, the council of a non-county borough or an urban district' shall be omitted.—[Mr. Speed.]

Mr. Speed

I beg to move Amendment No. 786, in page 277, line 39, leave out from '6'to end of line 16 on page 278 and insert 'in paragraph (a) for the words "the council of a county borough" there shall be substituted the words "subject to subsections (6A) and (7) and section 28A below, the council of a county "and the words "subject to subsection (7) below" shall be omitted.

  • (2) After subsection (6) of that section there shall be inserted the following subsection: —
  • "(6A) Subject to section 28A(1) below, before exercising their powers under subsection (1) above or section 31(1) below, a county council shall consult the council of 817 the district in which the parking place is to be, or is, situated".
  1. 15A. After section 28 there shall be inserted the following section: —
    • 28A.—
      1. (1) In relation to roads in England—
        1. (a) the power to make an order under subsection (1) of section 28 above authorising the use as a parking place of any part of a road shall not be exercisable by district councils, and
        2. (b) subsection (6A) of that section shall not apply in relation to the exercise of that power by a county council.
      2. (2) Subject to subsection (1) above, a district council shall not exercise their powers under section 28, section 29 other than sub sections (3) and (7) to (9) thereof, section 29A or section 31(1) of this Act without the consent of the county council, and any consent given by the county council may be subject to such conditions or restrictions as they think fit.
      3. (3) Where a district council propose to make an Order under section 31 or (in the case of a district council in Wales) section 28 of this Act, the district council shall submit a draft of the order to the county council who may, without prejudice to their power to give or withhold consent to the making of the order, require such modifications of the terms of the proposed order as they think appropriate.
      4. (4) A district council who are aggrieved by the refusal of a county council to give consent under subsection (2) above, by any conditions or restrictions subject to which any such consent is given, or by any modifications required under subsection (3) above may appeal to the Secretary of State; and on any such appeal the Secretary of State may give such directions as he thinks fit either dispensing with the need for consent or varying or revoking any such conditions, restrictions or modifications.
      5. (5) Subject to subsection (6) below, the power to vary or revoke an order made by a district council under section 28(1) above or section 3(1) below shall be exercisable by the county council as well as by the district council; but if the county council propose to make an order in the exercise of that power they shall send a copy of the proposed order to the district council who made the order which it is proposed to vary or revoke.
      6. (6) If, not later than six weeks after they have received from the county council a copy of a proposed order under subsection (5) above, a district council serve notice on the county council and the Secretary of State of their objection to the making of the proposed order and the objection is not with drawn by a further notice served not later than six weeks after the service of the notice of objection, the county council shall submit a copy of the proposed order to the Secretary of State and may not make the order except with the consent of the Secretary of State.
      7. (7) The Secretary of State may, if he consents to any order submitted to him for his consent under subsection (6) above, con- 818 sent to the order either in the form in which it was submitted to him or with such modifications as he thinks fit, which include additions, exceptions or other modifications of any description; but where he proposes to consent to the order with modifications which appear to him substantially to affect the character of the order as submitted to him, he shall, before doing so, take such steps as appear to him to be sufficient and reasonably practicable for informing the county council and district council in question and any other persons likely to be concerned".
  2. 15B. In section 31, after subsection (1) there shall be inserted the following subsection: —
    • "(1A) The powers of a county council under this section shall apply in relation to any parking place—
      1. (a) provided by the council of a district in the county under section 28 of this Act, or
      2. (b) provided under any letting or arrangements made by the council of such a district under section 29(6) thereof.
      as they apply in relation to parking places provided by, or under any letting or arrangements made by, the county council; but if, by virtue of this subsection, a county council propose to make an order under subsection (1) above in relation to a parking place they shall send a copy of the proposed order to the district council concerned and subsections (6) and (7) of section 28A of this Act shall apply with the substitution of a reference to this subsection for the reference to subsection (5) of that section" '.

Mr. Deputy Speaker

With this Amendment we are to take Government Amendments Nos. 787 to 791 and 1118.

Mr. Speed

The Amendment seeks to give effect to the undertakings given by Ministers in Standing Committee that the new district councils in England should have concurrent powers with the new county councils for the provision and regulation of off-street car parks; the powers to be exercisable with the consent of the county councils, but with provision for an appeal by the district council to the Secretary of State against unreasonable refusal of consent or the imposition of unreasonable conditions.

The Amendment proposes the following changes to the powers in Sections 28 to 32 of the 1967 Act:

The district councils and the county councils in England and Wales, outside Greater London, will have concurrent powers to provide and regulate off-street car parks.

The district council's powers will be exercisable subject to the consent of the county council, which may be conditional.

A district council which is aggrieved by a county council's refusal of consent or imposition of conditions may appeal to the Secretary of State, who may dispense with the need for consent or may modify the conditions.

A county council will be able to regulate a district car park, including varying or revoking a district council's own regulations, but if the district council objects, may do so only with the consent of the Secretary of State and the consent of the Secretary of State may include modifications.

County councils will have to consult the district councils before exercising their off-street parking powers.

The Amendment also has the effect of applying the consent and appeal procedures to orders under Section 28(1) covering free on-street parking made by Welsh districts: and of excluding English districts from power to make such orders.

Amendments Nos. 787, 788 and 789 deal with the Welsh provision.

Amendment No. 790 has a triple purpose. The first is to integrate the new procedures introduced by Amendment No. 786 into the Secretary of State's reserve powers in Section 84A of the 1967 Act, whereby he may give a direction to a local authority to make a parking order or may make such an order himself. The effect of the Amendment is that, if the Secretary of State were to use his reserve powers for this purpose, neither the consultation provision nor the consent and appeal provisions would apply.

The second purpose is to bring the consent and appeal provisions into the category of matters on which the Secretary of State may make regulations under Section 84C of the 1967 Act.

The third purpose is technical—to introduce into the powers conferred on local authorities by Section 84D of the 1967 Act the limitations now included in Amendments 786 and 788, that is, that if a county intends to vary or revoke a district council's order it should send a copy of the proposed order to the district council whose order it intends to vary or revoke.

Amendment 791 is to remedy an existing deficiency in the Bill. Section 82 of the 1967 Act provides that in the case of boundary roads between two local authorities, powers over the road may be exercised by either authority with the consent of the other. The powers concerned are mainly traffic regulations powers and should have been transferred in the Bill from county boroughs and districts outside Greater London to county councils. I regret to say that by an oversight this has not been effected in the Bill until now.

Amendment 1118 is purely consequential.

Mr. John Silkin

This is a nod in the direction of those of us who in Committee wanted the Minister to go further with the provision of car parking. It goes some way and we are grateful for it. I know that the Bill has been altered, amended, turned round and put back and turned backwards so many times that I almost hesitate, at twenty minutes to one in the morning, to ask the Minister to look again at whether he cannot go a little further along the road. If he can, we shall be delighted.

Amendment agreed to.

Amendments made: No. 787 in page 278, line 23, leave out from 'Wales" to end of line 25 and insert 'subject to section 35A of this Act, the council of a county or of a district'.

No. 788, in page 278, line 29, leave out from beginning to end of line 39 and insert— 16A. After section 35 there shall be inserted the following section—

No. 789, in page 279, line 12, at end insert— 16B. At the end of section 36 there shall be inserted the following subsection—

No. 790, in page 279, line 48, at end insert—

  1. 23A. In section 84A, after subsection (6), there shall be inserted the following subsections—
    1. '(6A) Where the Secretary of State—
      1. (a) gives a direction under subsection (1) above requiring a county council or district council to make an order under section 28(1) or section 31(1) of this Act, or
      2. (b) makes such an order by virtue of subsection (2) above,
      neither subsection (6A) of section 28 nor subsections (2) to (4) of section 28A of this Act shall apply in relation to anything done in pursuance of the direction or, as the case may be, in relation to the making of the order by the Secretary of State.
    2. (6B) Where the Secretary of State—
      1. (a) gives a direction under subsection (1) above requiring a county or district council in Wales to make an order under any of the provisions specified in subsection (1) of section 35A of this Act, or
      2. (b) by virtue of subsection (2) above, makes such an order in relation to a parking place in Wales,
      nothing in subsection (1) to (4) of section 35A of this Act shall apply in relation to anything done in pursuance of the direction or, as the case may be, in relation to the making of the order by the Secretary of State'.
  2. 23B.—
    1. (1) In section 84C, in subsection (2) after the words 'of the appropriate Minister' there shall be inserted the words 'or a county council,' and after the words 'that Minister' there shall be inserted the words 'or council' and after the words 'submitted to him' there shall be inserted the words 'or them'.
    2. (2) After subsection (5) of that section there shall be inserted the following subsection: —
      • '(5A) The Secretary of State may make regulations with respect to the procedure in connection with appeals to him by district councils under sections 28A and 35A of this Act'.
  3. 23C. In section 84D(1), after the words 'Subject to' there shall be inserted the words 'sections 28A(5) and 35A(5) above and to'.

No. 791, in page 279, line 48, at end insert— 23A. In section 82(4), the words 'or county borough, county district' and 'borough included in a rural district' shall be omitted and at the end there shall be added the words 'or, in relation to section 28(1) of this Act, the council of a district in Wales'.

No. 1107, in page 280, line 18, at end insert— 'and for the words 'the authority or the Council" there shall be substituted the words "that body" '.—[Mr. Speed.]

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