Road Safety Bill
9:25 am
Mr David Jamieson (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department for Transport; Plymouth, Devonport, Labour)
On a point of order, Mr. Hughes. During one of our fascinating debates last week, I offered on Tuesday, in response to a request from the right hon. Member for East Yorkshire (Mr. Knight), to provide copies of the police national drink drive proforma, the MGDD forms. For his information, that is the manual of guidance drink driving—it seems so obvious one when knows—as published on the Home Office website. I am pleased to tell the Committee that copies are now on the Table and have also been placed in the Libraries.
The MGDD forms have been produced jointly by the Crown Prosecution Service and the Association of Chief Police Officers for England and Wales and represent one of the many sections of the manual of guidance prepared for use by prosecution teams to promote best possible practice and to minimise or eliminate the risk of non-compliance with the law. They are working documents that are constantly evolving and being updated in the light of case law. Because they represent best practice, adherence to them is not essential for compliance with legislation, a flexibility that prosecution services must preserve.
Finally, as I said in the debate, if roadside evidential testing becomes law, a fresh process will be needed, drawing, where appropriate, on experience of station hospital procedure. I am grateful to you, Mr. Hughes, for allowing me to raise the matter.