Clause 39 - Increase in penalties forsummary offences under 1991 act
Traffic Management Bill
10:15 am
Mr Hugh Bayley (City of York, Labour)
I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for having a genuine debate. However, do we not face a public policy problem in that the beneficiaries of digging a hole in the road are few? The beneficiaries are only the public utilities. However, many people bear the cost. They bear a small cost as each of them has their journey delayed by five or 10 minutes, or even
15 or 20 minutes if there is a serious hold up. If I may use an analogy, it is rather like reforming the common agricultural policy. The number of those who benefit—the farmers—are few but they benefit enormously. The number of people who pay the cost—the average householder who pays about £30 or £40 extra a week in food costs—are many. Do we not have a similar situation here? If the hon. Gentleman does not—