Schedule 1 - Giving of fixed penalty notices by vehicle examiners etc.
Road Safety Bill
5:00 pm
Mr David Wilshire (Assistant Chief Whip, Whips; Spelthorne, Conservative)
I wanted to intervene on the Minister, but as I am on my feet I shall make a contribution, and see if I can goad him into responding. His response to my first comments has reassured me. I found the information helpful and I can see a reason for the provision, so I have no difficulty with that.
However there is something that the Minister did not say. I found myself thinking that those people can carry out that function, and it does make sense, but to what extent is there the risk of a separate ethos, approach and use of discretion? People will be issuing what amount to penalty points that have exactly the same effect as penalty points for speeding, which tot up in just the same way.
This is a different group of people who are not necessarily using the same criteria and discretion as others doing that job. What supervision will there be of the people doing it? What standards will be set? I know that there is guidance, but to what extent will someone who is not one of those inspectors be able to ensure that it is being followed? To what extent will someone be able to compare their practice with that elsewhere, and, if necessary, will they have the authority to pull them back into line with other people issuing fixed penalty notices?