§
14 Clause 17, page 10, line 42, at end insert:
'( ) Subsection (1) does not apply to the construction of a highway or private means of access by or on behalf of a government department or Minister of the Crown which the department or Minister is satisfied is reasonably required for discharging any function of the department or Minister.'.
§ Lord Brabazon of TaraMy Lords, I beg to move that the House do agree with the Commons in their Amendment No. 14. I shall speak also to Amendment No. 34.
The Government's main anxiety in tabling this amendment was to ensure that concessionaires would not be able to use the veto in Clause 17 over the construction of accesses to prevent the Department of Transport constructing weighbridges adjoining a concessionaire's road. We are keen to ensure that the department's powers in the Road Traffic Act 1988 to weigh certain vehicles are not constrained. And there may well be other good reasons why government departments other than the Department of Transport would wish to construct an access to a toll road.
§ Moved, That the House do agree with the Commons in their Amendment No. 14.—(Lord Brabazon of Tara.)
§ On Question, Motion agreed to.