Clause 33 - Preparation of permit schemes
Traffic Management Bill
5:15 pm
Mr Christopher Chope (Christchurch, Conservative)
I beg to move amendment No. 165, in
page 14, line 41, at end add—
'(6) The Secretary of State shall consult, and take account of the views of all affected parties or their representatives when preparing or considering permit schemes.'.
I hope that the Minister will be able to accept this amendment. It is about consultation, and he has already told us that he thinks it much more important to consult with local authorities, utility companies and others than with members of this Committee. If he believes that, I hope that he will accept this.
The purpose of the amendment is to ensure that any permit scheme is practical and balances the need to minimise congestion with the need to provide essential utility services. It would iron out possible areas of concern or confusion so as to minimise the risk of disputes, enabling everybody to focus on minimising congestion, which is what we are all about. It is obvious that everybody has to work together for the new system to be effective, and the Government have said that they are willing to consult on permit schemes. However, it would be helpful to those who are going to have to operate under the regime to know what the Minister thinks about consultation.
Because the scope of the Bill provides for permit schemes to limit the timing and location of works, utilities are concerned that they could be told where to place apparatus in the street, which would impact on their costs and provision of services to customers. The provision for permit schemes to dictate the timing of works—date of commencement, duration and hours of the day when they can take place—would have a significant effect on their costs. Overnight working substantially increases costs, including subcontractor
charges, and may lead to subcontractors saying that they do not want to be involved in the work. That is especially likely in the parts of the country in which there is a bit of a building boom, including London.
A host of important issues is involved, and I hope that the Minister will accept this reasonable amendment specifying the need for consultation.