Clause 6 - Appeals
Vehicles (Crime) Bill
5:00 pm
Mr John Bercow (Buckingham, Conservative)
I beg to move amendment No. 73, in page 5, line 12, at end insert—
`(2A) The Secretary of State may extend the period specified in subsection (2) where he receives representations in writing after the 21 day period showing good cause why an appeal could not be brought within the given period.'.
We come to the issue of appeals. In inverse order of appearance in the clause, clause 6 deals with the cancellation of a person's registration in the register for his or her area, a refusal to re-register a person, and a refusal to register an operator in the first instance. Under subsection (2), the Government provide for appeals to be made
within the period of 21 days beginning with the day on which the person concerned is served with a notice under section 5(7).
The reference to the 21-day appeal period appears in lines 10 to 12.
The amendment that my hon. Friends and I propose would, if incorporated, become paragraph (a). Our anxiety, as I am sure that the Minister will accept even if he disagrees with the amendment, is to ensure that, as far as possible—mistakes will always be made, but we should try to minimise the scope for them—the Secretary of State does not remove legitimate businesses from the register without good cause or reason.
We are slightly uneasy about the restrictive 21-day period, which is why we suggest that, if people can show good reason why they were unable to make representations within the 21-day period, representations received after it should be duly considered. I have a hunch—I put it no more strongly than that—that the Minister might feel inclined to resist my amendment. The Minister is now helpfully nodding in a sedentary position while sucking his spectacles, making it clear that he intends to resist.