STATUTORY ORDERS (SPECIAL PROCEDURE) (SUBSTITUTION) ORDER, 1962 (Hansard, 5 December 1962)

§ LORD CHESHAM
My Lords, the humble Address for which I move looks extremely complicated on the Order Paper, but I am glad to tell your Lordships that in fact it is not so. It is a quite simple matter and not a very large one. Last year, as some of your Lordships will recall, there was a case when the Tees-side Railless Traction Board, who operate trolley buses, had to obtain authority to divert one of their routes over a short distance for a few months because of a bridge under reconstruction. At the time my noble friend Lord Merrivale asked whether this cumbersome procedure which was necessary by means of a Provisional Order and a subsequent Confirmation Bill was really essential for so small and simple an operation. He suggested at the time that Special Parliamentary Procedure was a possible alternative, although, of course that would need to be applied to the local Act under which the undertaking operated, by another Act.
It seems a reasonable point to consider and my noble friend moved an Amendment on the Committee stage of the Road Traffic Bill in November, 1961 in general terms. That Amendment I accepted in principle, but he kindly agreed to withdraw it at my request so that further consideration could be given to the drafting of it. In that consideration it became apparent (I wrote to him about it) that what he wanted would be met by an Order in Council under the Statutory Orders (Special Procedure) Act, 1945. I promised at the time either to see that such an Order in Council was made or to revert to action during the course of the Road Traffic Bill. There was no reason not to make an Order in Council and to-day we are facing the final stage in this matter. That is the Order for which I am asking your Lordships' approval.
What it means is that a much simpler and easier and more convenient procedure will be available to trolley bus operators when they vary their route, but maintaining the safeguards for the interests of anyone affected by it. It will mean that 16 of the 22 authorities who operate trolley buses will be able to 243 use this simpler procedure. I should point out that the other six authorities already have applied this procedure to their undertakings by a local Act. Several Orders, seven to be exact, have been promoted under this procedure, and no difficulty whatever has arisen and certainly not at the Parliamentary stage. That is what this Order will do. I should tell your Lordships, I think, that the operators and the Association of Municipal Corporations have been consulted and agree to the Order. There are one or two variations in the offing which would certainly be helped and I think that this Order, if your Lordships will approve it, will be welcome to the operators and make life in a small way easier for everybody. I hope your Lordships will approve it. I beg to move.

§ LORD MERRIVALE
My Lords, as for the last five years, on and off, inside and outside of Parliament, I have been taking an interest in electric traction, I should like to thank most sincerely my noble friend and Her Majesty's Government for the action, although it might be a small one and not one of great importance to your Lordships, that has been taken and I am most appreciative of that fact. I should like to add a few words, my Lords. In the past in their ministerial capacity—and I say this with respect and regret—my noble friends Lord Mills and Lord Mancroft were not perhaps as forthcoming as the noble Lord, Lord Chesham, is to-day. Therefore, it gives me great pleasure to see him take an interest in this form of traction. Also, I would thank him for kindly contacting trolley bus or trolley vehicle operators on September 8, 1961, and on March 23, 1962, with a view to 244 obtaining their views on this simplified procedure which would be applicable to the Statutory Orders (Special Procedure) Act, 1945.
It is heartening to know also that no Petition has been presented against this Special Order, and that it will benefit sixteen local authorities and, I am glad to say, will give pleasure to the Association of Municipal Corporations, who are interested in this matter. It is interesting to recall that in February, 1957, Ben England, then general manager of Nottingham City Transport, wrote in Bus and Coach, an article headed, "If only Parliament had encouraged electric traction", which commented on what trolley buses might have been in this country.
I am wondering whether one can take this Order as a small realisation on the part of Her Majesty's Government that there are some benefits in trolley-vehicle operation. Last Wednesday, my noble friend Lord Molson, in his excellent opening speech, referred to the way trolley buses were being used in Philadelphia within the context of a balanced public transport system—and that is important. I had intended to refer to rapid transport, but I had a word beforehand with my noble friend who told me that that would be against the wishes of your Lordships, so I will not do so. In conclusion, whilst again thanking my noble friend for what he has personally done, and for what his Ministry have done, should like to ask him whether, in the context of this whole question, he will be willing to look at the editorial article in Passenger Transport of November of last year. The article was headed "Planning and Traffic", and I would ask him particularly to note the last words: Why is it so little progress is being made here in planning for future transport of urban passengers? I am sorry to have mentioned that at the end, but it is something which I have felt for many years. I would again say that I am most grateful to Her Majesty's Government.

§ LORD CHESHAM
My Lords, I am grateful to my noble friend for what he has said about this Order. So far as his further suggestion is concerned, I can only say that if the article is in the tone of what are apparently its concluding 245 words, I should disagree with it in advance.