§ Mr. LuffTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will make it his policy to permit parish councils to object to the grant of licences by the Traffic Commissioners; and if he will make a statement. [118642]
§ Mr. HillThe possibility of allowing parish councils a statutory right of objection to applications for goods vehicle operator licences was considered as part of the last major review of the operator licensing system, but was ruled out at that time. This review resulted in the present legislation, the Goods Vehicles (Licensing of Operators) Act 1995. Bodies which may object to licence applications, such as local authorities, are listed in the Act. There may be a case for including parish councils in this list, but it is too early to carry out another major review of the system. In the meantime, I hope that local authorities will consult parish councils on applications for operator licences which may affect them and take their views into account in considering whether to use their statutory right of objection.