Clause 31 - Interpretation of Part 2
Traffic Management Bill
4:30 pm
Mr Tony McNulty (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department for Transport; Harrow East, Labour)
I have a lot of sympathy with the notion of car clubs, of pooling cars and of all sorts of other ways of getting everything but drivers driving on their own round our towns, cities and countryside—especially to and from work. I am not entirely sure of the legality—legality is the wrong word, but it will do at this hour—of simply throwing a definition into a list of definitions that refers to everything in the clause. The clause is a glossary for part 2, and I am not sure that throwing in a definition of car clubs would define a statutory duty. That is by the by, but it seems inappropriate.
Local authorities can already deal with most of the subsequent provisions in new clause 14A, because they have the power to designate parking spaces on highways through sections 32 and 45 of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984. Such spaces may be provided for a particular class of vehicle—for example, residents' parking bays. I do not believe that there is any difficulty in using the 1984 Act to achieve what the hon. Gentleman wants through the new clause.