Traffic Management Bill
9:25 am
Viscount John Thurso (Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland (And Transport), Scotland; Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross, Liberal Democrat)
It is a great pleasure, Miss Begg, to be under your chairmanship again, albeit for the first time outside the Scottish Grand Committee? I was grateful to the Minister for making it possible to meet his officials to receive an explanation of much of the detail of the Bill. That was extremely useful as it allows proper scrutiny.
As I said on Second Reading, we agree with the principles of the Bill. However, considerable concern was raised by various aspects of detail that we hope to tease out in Committee, particularly about safety, the environment and those aspects of devolution that relate to the Greater London authority. It would have been helpful if draft guidance had been available to show the Government's intentions. It would be extremely helpful if those guidance notes were to be made available, as they will be critical to future management of the Bill.
The Liberal Democrats are broadly content with the programme motion, particularly as the Government have made room for further sittings, should eight prove insufficient. We are grateful for that. Accordingly, we are content with the motion.