CONCESSION STATEMENT (Hansard, 22 May 1991)

§ Ms. Ruddock
I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time.

Mr. Deputy Speaker
With this, it will be convenient to take the following: Amendment No.71, in clause 6, page 5, line 22, at end insert— '(5A) The Secretary of State shall not make or confirm the scheme or toll order unless it is accompanied by a concession statement fulfilling the requirements of section (concession statement) below.'. Government amendments Nos. 28 and 105.

§ Ms. Ruddock
I assure you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, that the Opposition intend to make good progress.
We tabled the new clause and the amendment because of an obvious deficiency in the Bill. We pursued the matter in Committee and felt that we had had a positive response from the Minister, but we still felt it necessary to table the new clause because we were uncertain whether the Government's response at this stage would be satisfactory. I am pleased to tell the House that we think that it probably will be.
The new clause would require a highway authority, before making a toll order, to publish a concession statement. It sets out a number of subjects that would have to be covered in such a statement. We believe that it represents the legitimate interests of road users and of organisations such as local authorities. There is no requirement in the Bill for concession agreements to be published—indeed, the Government rejected moves to enforce the publication of agreements on the ground that some of their content might be commercially confidential.
985 The new clause makes allowance for that by requiring the publication of a statement covering aspects of the agreement rather than the agreement as a whole.
The Minister's response to the demands that we made in Committee is reflected in Government amendments Nos. 28 and 105. Those amendments are welcome and, if I can elicit certain assurances from the Minister, they may be as acceptable to us as is our new clause. Unlike new clause 8, amendment No. 28 does not specify the content of the statement. It leaves that to regulations. We concede that there may be some merit in doing that. It is on that matter that we seek assurances. Does the Minister intend to cover in the regulations the issues listed in new clause 8? I am sure that he appreciates that I seek his assurances on that general point.
Perhaps the Minister will also understand if I raise one specific and additional point. New clause 8(2)(c) refers to the policing of concession roads. The costs of policing toll roads were discussed in some detail in Committee. The Minister said that the Government had reviewed their position and considered that concessionaires should be required to meet the cost of policing concession roads only where those roads did not form part of a public highway.
Since the debates in Committee, the implications of parts I and II of the Bill for the police have been considered by several police authorities. On 11 April, the general purposes committee of West Midlands police authority resolved that efforts should be made to ensure that the police are able to recover their full costs from concessionaires of any activities undertaken with regard to concession roads. On 10 May, the finance and policy committee of Greater Manchester police authority agreed to support the views expressed by West Midlands police authority.
Given that there is increasing anxiety on the issue of policing, it would be helpful if the Minister could tell us whether there is anything to prevent an agreement being reached between a highway authority and a concessionaire that provides for the concessionaire to contribute to the cost of policing the road.
Having raised that specific point with the Minister, and in the interests of making rapid progress, it remains only for me to remind the Minister that his response to our query on the content of the proposed regulations will determine our attitude to pressing the new clause.

§ Mr. Freeman
I shall seek to be brief on this point. I am grateful to the hon. Member for Lewisham, Deptford (Ms. Ruddock) for implying that she might find Government amendment No. 28 and the parallel Scottish amendment acceptable instead of her new clause 8. She raised a couple of points. First, she asked what was likely to be in the regulations. We agreed in Committee that we would like a summary of the concession agreement to be published for all those interested prior to the public inquiry. However, concession agreements are often voluminous and the hon. Lady agreed that it was unreasonable to expect them all to be published. Without commitment, I can tell the hon. Lady that most of what the new clause suggests would commend itself to inclusion in draft regulations. We shall consult on the regulations before they are presented to Parliament.
986 The hon. Lady's second point was about policing. I am not sure that she reported accurately what I said in Committee. Detailed arrangements for particular roads can be covered in the concession agreement. There may be circumstances in which the concessionaire and the highway authority wish to reach agreement on the arrangements. That would be entirely a matter for them. I make it clear that, as a general policy, toll roads for which the Government see a need and which by definition qualify for the roads programme should be policed at public expense. After all, they are part of the Queen's highway and are public highways.
I see no logical reason for separating toll roads from publicly financed free roads. Any category of user permitted to use the toll road has an absolute right to use that road. It would be neither fair nor reasonable to argue that there should be any impediment or disincentive to the emergency services, including the police, to cover those roads.
In conclusion—I seek to be brief—on some roads, perhaps those which are not in the roads programme, a concession agreement could be reached which covered policing responsibilities and the apportionment of cost.

§ Ms. Ruddock
I am grateful to the Minister. Those assurances are satisfactory to us. I beg to ask leave to withdraw the motion.