HL Deb 08 June 1967 vol 283 cc519-21

3.12 p.m.

LORD CHESHAM

My Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.

[The Question was as follows:

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will state what consultations were held by the Minister of Transport before announcing their intention to impose a 60 m.p.h. speed limit, on a trial basis, on the A.45 road between Thurlaston roundabout and the Coventry boundary.]

LORD SHEPHERD

My Lords, the police and the Ministry's Warwickshire Area Road Safety Unit were consulted. The proposal will shortly be advertised, and any representations will then be considered in the usual way.

LORD CHESHAM

My Lords, is the noble Lord aware that when a new principle such as this is introduced by the Minister, it is at least customary to consult the various interested organisations? Am I to assume that this was not done?

LORD SHEPHERD

My Lords, the noble Lord, Lord Chesham, having been a Minister in this particular Department, will be aware that the Ministry are under no statutory rule to consult anyone. My right honourable friend has consulted these two organisations which have been carrying out a survey over this road for a length of some 25 miles. On this strip of road there is a very heavy accident rate: I think there have been some 769 personal injuries there in the last three years. This speed limit is being introduced in an effort to reduce the accident rate. I stated in my original Answer that the representations can be made, and these will no doubt result in conversations.

LORD CHESHAM

My Lords, is the noble Lord aware that it was precisely because of the period that I was in the Ministry, to which he referred, that I asked this Question? May I ask the noble Lord whether he realises that I am aware of what are and what are not the Minister's statutory duties, and that in many of these matters there are indeed statutory obligations on the Ministry to consult? Am I to take it that on this matter the Minister did not consult the National Road Safety Advisory Committee or its working party on speed limit policy?

LORD SHEPHERD

My Lords, in regard to this strip of road, I have already given the two bodies which my right honourable friend has consulted.

LORD CHESHAM

My Lords, may I thank the noble Lord for his answer? May I ask him whether he is further aware that we now have 30 m.p.h., 40 m.p.h., 50 m.p.h., and 70 m.p.h. speed limits, and that advisory speed limits on corners are creeping in? May I ask him whether this is not in the nature of a new principle, which may lead to confusion becoming worse confounded? Also, would it be possible for Parliament to be informed more widely when such new tiers of speed limits are introduced?

LORD SHEPHERD

My Lords, this is a new speed limit, of course, but it is thought that this limit is best for this particular stretch of road. I think that the noble Lord is going a little wider than the original Question, but I should be happy if he were to raise this matter on another occasion, because it has considerable bearing on our traffic safety problems.

LORD NUGENT OF GUILDFORD

My Lords, is the noble Lord aware that, rather than fixing a new speed limit, which at best is arbitrary—it may be too much or too little—a far greater improvement in road safety would be achieved on this 25-mile strip of road if he could introduce more mobile police patrols? They have a far greater effect than any number of speed limits, which are not always enforced very well.

LORD SHEPHERD

My Lords, I certainly would not disagree with the noble Lord.