§ The LORD CHANCELLORMy Lords, I beg to move that this Bill be now read a second time. It consolidates the law relating to highways, with amendments made to give effect to recommendations by the Law Commission, contained in their Report No. 100. The last consolidation of highways law was of course in 1959. It was, as your Lordships will see, a mammoth undertaking, involving the bringing together of legislation going back many centuries. Twenty-one years have passed since then, and there have been further developments. There have been changes in the substantive law; there have also been radical changes in local government organisation, and these have had their impact on the law concerning the administration of highways. So it is thought that the time has come again to bring the law together in one place. The enormous Bill to which I am speaking, I hope without undue length, is now the result of it. I need hardly say that, if your Lordships see fit to give a Second Reading to this Bill, it will be referred to the Joint Committee on Consolidation Bills in the usual way. I beg to move.
§ On Question, Bill read 2a, and referred to the Joint Committee on Consolidation Bills.