– in the House of Commons at 9:36 pm on 25 October 1988.
Sir Nicholas Lyell
Solicitor General (Law Officers)
10:13,
25 October 1988
I beg to move, That the Bill be now read a Second time. [Interruption.]
Mr Bernard Weatherill
, Croydon North East
Order. Will Members not staying for the debate on the consolidation Bills please leave quietly?
Sir Nicholas Lyell
Solicitor General (Law Officers)
There are, in fact, three Bills relating to road traffic matters before the House, and with permission I shall speak to all three, as they should be considered as a unity.
The three Bills, taken together, amount to a consolidating measure. The principal subject matters are, first, the Road Traffic Act 1972—which, although itself a consolidation, has been considerably amended—secondly, part III of the Transport Act 1982, which set up the new procedure of fixed penalties for certain driving offences, and, thirdly, the provisions of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 relating to the prosecution and punishment of offenders.
Where this consolidation differs from previous measures is in its structure. The Road Traffic Bill follows the structure of the 1972 Act, but the opportunity has been taken to simplify its provisions where possible. All the provisions of the measures to be consolidated that relate to prosecution and punishment have been brought together in the second Bill, the Road. Traffic Offenders Bill. The third Bill is ancillary to the other two. It contains the necessary repeals and transitional provisions as well as provisions in existing legislation that have not yet been brought into force and that would have been misleading if included in the text of the main Bill.
Not only will the Division into separate Bills make each of more manageable size: it should also prove of considerable assistance to the courts' practitioners and all of us affected by the law relating to road traffic. I hope that the House will agree that it is a helpful innovation in the statutory process.
In preparing the consolidation, the Law Commission and the Scottish Law Commission issued a report in which they made a number of recommendations for amending the existing legislation, and those amendments appear in the Bills. All three Bills were referred in the usual way to the Joint Committee on Consolidation Bills during their passage in Another place. The Committee reported that the recommendations of the Law Commissions were necessary to produce a satisfactory consolidation of the law and that the three Bills, taken together, amounted to a single consolidation.
I should tell the House that a small number of further amendments will be brought forward. They will make minor corrections and deal with the commencement of the consolidated legislation. It is also hoped that they will bring into the consolidation the provision of the Penalty Points (Alteration) Order, if approved by Parliament in time for inclusion in the consolidation.
As always, our thanks are due to the Law Commissions and to the draftsmen for their excellent work in the process of keeping the statute book in modern and accessible form.
Mr Bernard Weatherill
, Croydon North East
I understand that it would be for the convenience of the House to take the three Bills together, although I shall put the Questions separately.
Mr John Fraser
, Norwood
10:18,
25 October 1988
I, too, congratulate the draftsmen on their energy and style. I cannot disagree that the Road Traffic (Consequential Provisions) Bill sits happily as a separate Bill. However, I think that many practitioners would have preferred the Road Traffic Bill and the Road Traffic Offenders Bill to have been together. In both prosecuting and defending offences, it is inevitable that one needs to look at both statutes during proceedings. I think that that must also be true for the police. The Bills are bound to be found together in "Stone's Justices' Manual" and other textbooks on the law. It might have been better to have had the two together. They will come fairly high up the league table, although not as high as some of the Revenue consolidations which find themselves in a single Bill.
With that reservation, we welcome the consolidation of the law, which makes it easier to follow and its understanding that much easier. I am therefore happy to welcome the Bills.
The Second Reading is the most important stage for a Bill. It is when the main purpose of a Bill is discussed and voted on. If the Bill passes it moves on to the Committee Stage. Further information can be obtained from factsheet L1 on the UK Parliament website.
A proposal for new legislation that is debated by Parliament.
During a debate members of the House of Commons traditionally refer to the House of Lords as 'another place' or 'the other place'.
Peers return the gesture when they speak of the Commons in the same way.
This arcane form of address is something the Labour Government has been reviewing as part of its programme to modernise the Houses of Parliament.
The House of Commons votes by dividing. Those voting Aye (yes) to any proposition walk through the division lobby to the right of the Speaker and those voting no through the lobby to the left. In each of the lobbies there are desks occupied by Clerks who tick Members' names off division lists as they pass through. Then at the exit doors the Members are counted by two Members acting as tellers. The Speaker calls for a vote by announcing "Clear the Lobbies". In the House of Lords "Clear the Bar" is called. Division Bells ring throughout the building and the police direct all Strangers to leave the vicinity of the Members’ Lobby. They also walk through the public rooms of the House shouting "division". MPs have eight minutes to get to the Division Lobby before the doors are closed. Members make their way to the Chamber, where Whips are on hand to remind the uncertain which way, if any, their party is voting. Meanwhile the Clerks who will take the names of those voting have taken their place at the high tables with the alphabetical lists of MPs' names on which ticks are made to record the vote. When the tellers are ready the counting process begins - the recording of names by the Clerk and the counting of heads by the tellers. When both lobbies have been counted and the figures entered on a card this is given to the Speaker who reads the figures and announces "So the Ayes [or Noes] have it". In the House of Lords the process is the same except that the Lobbies are called the Contents Lobby and the Not Contents Lobby. Unlike many other legislatures, the House of Commons and the House of Lords have not adopted a mechanical or electronic means of voting. This was considered in 1998 but rejected. Divisions rarely take less than ten minutes and those where most Members are voting usually take about fifteen. Further information can be obtained from factsheet P9 at the UK Parliament site.
The clause by clause consideration of a parliamentary bill takes place at its committee stage.
In the Commons this usually takes place in a standing committee, outside the Chamber, but occasionally a bill will be considered in a committee of the Whole House in the main chamber.
This means the bill is discussed in detail on the floor of the House by all MPs.
Any bill can be committed to a Committee of the Whole House but the procedure is normally reserved for finance bills and other important, controversial legislation.
The Chairman of Ways and Means presides over these Committees and the mace is placed on a bracket underneath the Table.
