Road Safety Bill
9:25 am
Mr David Jamieson (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department for Transport; Plymouth, Devonport, Labour)
I beg to move, That
(1) during proceedings on the Road Safety Bill the Standing Committee (in addition to its first meeting on Thursday 20th January at 9.25 a.m.) shall meet—
(a) at 2.30 p.m. on Thursday 20th January,
(b) at 9.25 a.m. and 2.30 p.m. on Tuesday 25th January,
(c) at 9.25 a.m. on Thursday 27th January,
(d) at 9.25 a.m. and 2.30 p.m. on Tuesday 1st February and Thursday 3rd February;
(2) the proceedings shall be taken in the following order, namely, Clauses 1 to 4; Schedule 1; Clauses 5 to 8; Schedule 2; Clause 9; Schedule 3; Clauses 10 to 32; Schedule 4; Clauses 33 to 41; Schedule 5; Clauses 42 to 46; Schedule 6; Clauses 47 to 51; new Clauses; new Schedules; any other proceedings relating to the Bill;
(3) the proceedings shall (so far as not previously concluded) be brought to a conclusion at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday 3rd February.
This is a special occasion, Mr. Hughes, because it is the first time that I have been in a Committee under your chairmanship. That is not bad fortune on my part, as I believe that it is the first time that you have chaired a Standing Committee. We wish you well in this venture over the next couple of weeks. I am sure that, with Mr. Pike, you will keep us very much in order.
May I also say what a pleasure it is to be sitting here with hon. Gentlemen who are almost friends nowadays, the hon. Members for Christchurch (Mr. Chope) and for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross (John Thurso), as well as their colleagues on the Opposition Benches, and of course my colleagues on the Government Benches? I hope that we will have a productive time scrutinising the Bill.
The Bill contains many good measures and I think that it will have widespread support inside and outside the House; indeed, I know that it does. There are issues relating to how far we go in certain areas and whether we should put more into the Bill, but I am sure that we will cover those matters adequately in the time available.
We had a good and full debate on Second Reading, and I am pleased to see in the Committee so many hon. Members who contributed so well to it. The tone of the debate was very constructive and largely consensual, and I hope that that will continue into our debates in the Committee.