POWERS AS RESPECTS ROADS THAT CROSS OR JOIN PUBLIC ROADS OTHER THAN SPECIAL ROADS (Hansard, 20 June 1984)

§ Mr. Michael Forsyth (Stirling)
I beg to move amendment No. 45, in page 12, line 25, after 'made', insert `by the roads authority'.

The First Deputy Chairman
With this it will be convenient to take the following amendments:
No. 50, in page 13, line 5, leave out subsection (2).
No. 51, in page 13, line 9, after 'section', insert 'by the Secretary of State as roads authority'. No. 52, in page 13, line 13, leave out 'or confirmed'.
No. 54, in page 13, line 31, at end insert— '(7) The Secretary of State may by regulations prescribe the procedure to be followed by a local roads authority in making an order under this section; and such regulations may in particular make provision as to the means of public notification of the proposal to make such an order and may make like provision in relation to the local roads authority as is made by subsection (4) above in relation to the Secretary of State. (8) Where a local roads authority propose to make an order under this section, then, before the expiry of 28 days from the date of the first public notification, in accordance with regulations under subsection (7) above, of the proposal to make the order, any person may object to it to the authority, and—

(a) if no such objection is made, or objection is made but withdrawn, they may confirm the order themselves; and

(b)if such objection is made and not withdrawn, the Secretary of State shall determine the matter, and may confirm the order with or without modification or refuse to confirm it.'.

§ Mr. Forsyth
These amendments might seem complicated, but they will produce considerable savings in both time and administration. I was horrified to discover from a case in my constituency that, although local authorities have powers to make orders for side roads joining main public roads, where an order is made by a local authority, for example, to stop up a road that crosses a public road, it must be confirmed by the Secretary of State, to whom all objections must be sent in the first instance.
These orders usually concern local matters and are of purely local importance. I presume that the Secretary of State has more to do with his time than to get involved in these matters. Conservative Members believe in developing power to local authorities as far as possible. Therefore, the present arrangement seems absurd. It would be more sensible for objections to be sent initially to the local roads authority. If they were withdrawn, there would be no need to involve the Secretary of State. That is the purpose of these amendments.
The amendments also provide for regulations to be made by the Secretary of State to impose requirements regarding objections. Any orders made by local authorities to which objections are made would have to be determined by the Secretary of State. Orders made by the Secretary of State under clause 12 would remain unchanged.

§ Mr. Allan Stewart
I listened carefully to the points made by my hon. Friend the Member for Stirling (Mr. Forsyth). No one's interests would be prejudiced by his suggestions, and the administrative arrangements would be greatly simplified. There would be a useful saving in administrative time and effort. Therefore, I am happy to commend the amendments to the Committee.

§ Mr. Allan Stewart
I beg to move amendment No. 53, in page 13, line 28, at beginning insert `Except in a case to which section 125 of this Act applies,'.

The First Deputy Chairman
With this it will be convenient to take Government amendments Nos. 94, 103, 133, 134, 138, 157, 159, 198, 200, 201, 202, 203, 204, 205, 206, 214, 224, 225, 226, 227, 229, 237, 238, 239, 240, 241, 244, 245, 246, 247, 248, 249, 250, 251, 252, 253, 256, 257, 258, 259, 260, 261.

§ Mr. Stewart
This group of amendments amends the Bill to the same extent as the Telecommunications Act 1984 amends existing Scottish roads law. They also alter references to the Road Traffic (Regulations) Act 1967 to references to the Road Traffic (Regulation) Act 1984 and make some minor consequential amendments to other legislation in schedule 8. The amendments relate to legislation that has passed through Parliament this Session.

§ Mr. Craigen
The director of roads for the Strathclyde region pointed out that clause 12(3) refers to schedule 1, part I, Procedures for making or confirming certain orders and schemes. In the schedule only the Secretary of State is mentioned, although clause 12(2) states that these orders can be made by the roads authority. Will the Under-Secretary of State link the two points, because it may be that some modification is required?

§ Mr. Allan Stewart
I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for raising that point. I hope that he will be content to leave the matter with me.