HL Deb 25 July 1922 vol 51 cc781-3

LORD HARRIS rose to ask His Majesty's Government what, if any, action they propose to take on the Motion agreed to in this House, on May 18, to the effect that the effect on the roads of heavy motor traffic was deserving of Parliamentary inquiry.

The noble Lord said: My Lords, I will not trouble you with a repetition of the arguments I have used on three previous occasions as to the justice to the rural ratepayer of doing something to reduce the heavy wear and tear upon the roads, particularly district roads as distinct from main roads, by heavy mechanical transport, and also of doing something to restore the authority and power of the county councils over the routes which may be taken by these mechanical vehicles. I suggested on a previous occasion that it was contrary to the whole spirit of local government that the county councils should have no authority over the routes which this mechanical transport chooses to follow. I am very much afraid that the answer of my noble friend will be that the Government do not propose to allow this to be considered by a Parliamentary Committee, but I hope very much that, in that case, he will be able to give us this much comfort, that he can say that the questions of the use of the roads by heavy transport and the control of the routes, will be taken into favourable consideration.

THE MINISTER OF TRANSPORT (THE EARL OF CRAWFORD)

My Lords. I can very readily give my noble friend the assurance that the problems to which he refers are constantly the subject of scrutiny and inquiry and correspondence with the relevant authorities. These great municipalities, and the County Councils,' Association, the Rural District Councils' Association and all similar bodies are not only entitled to place, but are welcomed in placing, their views upon these matters before my Department. I do not think that the county councils as a whole consider that their freedom has been unduly impaired, or that their authority over routes has been needlessly curtailed by anything done by the Ministry of Transport.

I implored your Lordships the last time this subject was raised not to appoint a Parliamentary Committee of Inquiry, at any rate at the present juncture. Since that time the technical Departmental Committee has been sitting. It has had several sittings, and has begun to examine very closely the extremely difficult and complicated problem referred to it as to the existing system of taxation. Your Lordships will remember that this Committee is directed to review in the light of experience gained during the last eighteen months the whole of that very difficult problem. In order that all possible views on that subject might be ascertained the County Councils' Association was communicated, with, and it has given a reply which I ask permission to read to the House. It is a reply which was not unexpected, and perhaps not unflattering to the Ministry of Transport.

The highways committee of the association passed this resolution on July 12— That the committee, while re-affirming the financial principles underlying the local Government Act, 1888, with regard to main roads, namely, the payment of at least one-half of the cost thereof from non-local sources, do not consider it to be any part of the duty of the county highway authorities, or of the association on their behalf, to advise the central Government as to the manner in which their share of main road expenditure should be raised. The committee are, therefore, not prepared to recommend the executive council to suggest to the Departmental Committee on the Taxation of Road Vehicles any alternative for the present system of taxation. That simply means that the County Councils' Association—and I have not a doubt the Rural District Councils' Association will share that opinion—hold that it is the duty of Parliament to find the money, and not the duty of the local authority to advise Parliament how to act.

That represents what I take to be the influential view on the part of local government as a whole. It deals with many of the questions already discussed in this House on previous occasions, and as this technical Committee is pursuing its inquiry into a subject the technical ramifications of which are quite unlimited, I think it would be a mistake on the part of your Lordships to press for a further concurrent inquiry. It would overlap the work of the existing Committee in many respects, and I think the House would be well advised to await the Report of this Departmental Committee before deciding to undertake any further inquiry into this most difficult subject.