§ 7 Page 2, line 29, leave out 'twelve' and insert 'sixteen'.
§ Baroness STEDMANMy Lords, I beg to move that this House doth agree with the Commons in their Amendment No. 7. I should like, with permission of the House, to speak to the linked Amendment No. 16. As was made clear during proceedings in another place, minibuses with larger seating capacities than 12 passengers are now readily available and are becoming increasingly widely used. The Government therefore agree with the view that this type of vehicle, if private, should be covered by the Bill. The figure of 16 passenger seats has been chosen as the new upper limit partly because this seems to cover most of the vehicles concerned, and partly in the interests of clarity and consistency, as this is the figure adopted for the Minibus Bill which recently passed through your Lordships' House.
§ Moved, That this House doth agree with the Commons in the said Amendment—(Baroness Stedman.)
§ Lord MOWBRAY and STOURTONMy Lords, again I thank the noble Baroness for her explanation and again I am able, smugly, to say that it originates from the Government Benches in another place as a concession to the arguments of the Opposition in Committee there. As the noble Baroness has explained, the Amendment allows the common sense facility of using the fuller capacity of the new minibuses (16) instead of the doctrinaire figure of 12, as previously. I congratulate the Government on their good sense in incorporating the Amendment.
§ On Question, Motion agreed to.
§ 4.40 p.m.