Schedule 2
Crossrail Bill
9:15 am
Stephen Hammond (Shadow Minister, Transport; Wimbledon, Conservative)
These amendments and their purposes are identical. Amendment No. 26 deals with disputes over highway access and amendment No. 27 deals with disputes over the discharge of water. Amendment No. 26 proposes that the relevant subsection should read:
“Any dispute with a highway authority under this paragraph shall, if the parties agree, be referred to arbitration”.
That would remove the ultimate power for dispute resolution from the hands of the Secretary of State. Disputes should be referred to arbitration, the process of which should be designed to ensure that a solution is reached. It seems that there is no need for a provision to be written into the Bill that will allow decisions to be made by the Government, rather than by someone charged with arbitration. There is a risk that the Government will not only be one of the parties in the arbitration, but the arbiter as well, which seems to be an inequitable position. Therefore, I look forward to the Minister accepting these sensible and reasonable amendments.